Abstract
Worldwide, millions of people permanently resettle in a new country (Díaz Andrade and Doolin, 2019). It is well known that immigrants are the fastest-growing component of the U.S. population. First- or second-generation immigrants (SGI) comprise around a quarter of the population. With such a large number of populations, the past four decades witnessed the beginnings of dramatic changes in people’s identities and the symbols of those identities. Defined as “native-born children of foreign parents or foreign-born children who were brought to the U.S. before adolescence” (Portes and Rumbaut, 2007, p. 985), SGIs face unique challenges (such as feelings of isolation, cultural dissonance, and identity crisis), which are rarely discussed by the public or academia (Diederich et al., 2022). Social media has become critical in peoples’ everyday lives. People use social media to connect with friends and families, find social support, express cultural identities, and access fundamental needs such as a sense of belonging (Díaz Anrade and Doolin, 2019). U.S. Research shows that second-generation immigrants are a demographic particularly susceptible to mental health struggles or traumas caused by feelings of marginalization and cultural dissonance (Diederich et al., 2022). Therefore, we aim to address the following research question: How does social media use reduce the cultural dissonance of second-generation immigrants? To answer the research question, we conduct a qualitative study with second-generation immigrants in the U.S. We are not so much concerned with their access to social media as with understanding how their use of social media causes their cultural dissonance, which is highly associated with their participation in social, cultural, political, and economic life (Petter and Giddens, 2023). In particular, we explain why and how social media use impacts bicultural individuals’ identification with two or more cultures and their ability to fit in. Theoretically, this study contributes to the broad social inclusion research on technology and marginalized communities by revealing how social media use can impact the cultural dissonance of second-generation immigrants. Our results provide insights into social media usage for social outcomes.
Recommended Citation
Zhu, Yaping; Zaza, Sam; Chamala, Kanaka Mrunalini; and Greer, Timothy, "Second Generation Immigrants: Technology Use to Reduce Cultural Dissonance" (2024). AMCIS 2024 TREOs. 168.
https://aisel.aisnet.org/treos_amcis2024/168