Temporary migration and the use of social media by international university students in Catalonia

Abstract

International students belong to a type of migration characterized by aspects such as the temporality of their transnational movements. As young people, their approach to digital technologies such as social networks is usually intense. This article describes some aspects of the experience of using social networks by international university students during their periods of academic mobility in the city of Barcelona. Through an ethnographic approach, topics such as the elements that make up the publications that students make during their stay in the city, the changes they have experienced in the use of their social networks based on their movements across borders or the perception and the appearance of national cultural differences regarding the use of platforms such as WhatsApp.