Palestinian Students’ use of Social Media in Family Communication

Many Palestinians immigrate for higher education due to the political conflicts faced by the nation. A large number has found Eastern Mediterranean University as a convenient place to pursue their education. As the geographical distance between these students and their families became greater, the easiest and fastest way to communicate became social media as it is today’s trends. Thus, Facebook as the most preferred social network is valuable in the world of communication. The method of study will be qualitative. The methodology will be based on focus groups of male Palestinian students. The field study is Eastern Mediterranean University, a state university in North Cyprus with Palestinian as one of the largest foreign population on the campus. The interviews/discussions will be held in 3 different groups of six participants each. Thus, data will be triangulated than similarities discussed in themes. The samples selection is based on the fact according to a survey conducted by Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS) most of the emigrants were young, single men. It also found more males than females were emigrating for education. The population of the focus group was selected randomly. The research must be conducted with an objective to collect and store sources of data, in a systematic manner using literature review and a thematic analysis. The goal is to analyze family communication and understand the vitality of family relation through the use of social media amongst student living abroad for educational reasons. The results show how the role of Facebook in the life of Palestinian students is complex as it may serve for good or for bad. Results also show that the impact of Facebook on families is not to be ignored, especially among Palestinian students whose main mean of communication with families is social media for the most may lead to questioning the vitality of family relation in their lives. The study highlights the factors that can most likely affect international students due to the use of social media.