4.3.3 (HL)—Technology and relationships

Acculturation is the process of adapting while living with more than one cultural system. Technology can support this process by providing language-specific information, contact and community, but it can also reinforce separation or transmit unreliable claims.

Trust, language and cultural fit determine whether a platform functions as a bridge. A researcher should distinguish access to information from successful integration and check whether the content is understood, credible and acted upon.

A review of migrant and ethnic-minority social-media use during COVID-19 found platforms such as WhatsApp and WeChat were important sources when trusted information was unavailable in a person’s first language. The same channels could also amplify vaccine misinformation.

Social media is not automatically a lifeline or a cause of acculturative stress. Avoid an imposed-etic interpretation, specify the group and platform, and separate association from evidence that technology changed acculturation.

Technology can also change interpersonal and group behaviour: persistent messaging may support closeness but remove non-verbal cues and amplify misunderstanding; visible likes, recommendations and group norms can reward conformity or polarize attention. Investigate the specific platform feature, relationship or identity mechanism and offline outcome, because time online alone cannot distinguish connection, group influence and acculturation.