"Meme-ing" Across Cultures: Understanding How Non-EU International Students in the UK Use Internet Memes for Cultural Adaptation and Identity.

Abstract

Non-EU international students encounter considerable challenges in social integration, cultural adaptation, and emotional well-being within UK higher education. Despite this, the role of internet memes as a form of participatory digital media in mediating these experiences has not been extensively studied. This paper examines how non-EU students at a British university utilise memes to manage cross-cultural identity and daily stressors. Employing an Experience-Centred Design (ECD) approach, our qualitative research involved 20 participants through digital cultural probes, semi-structured interviews, and co-design workshop. We discovered that memes serve a dual role: they provide emotional bridges that foster a sense of belonging through shared humour, yet they also risk exclusion due to cultural opacity. We introduce the concept of "negotiated humour", which requires cross-cultural explanation and reduces comedic spontaneity but enhances intercultural understanding. Furthermore, we identify a continuum of meme usage that reflects different phases of acculturation, ranging from expressing frustrations to creating hybrid cultural expressions. This study contributes to cross-cultural adaptation theory by highlighting memes as boundary objects in identity negotiation. We suggest design implications for culturally sensitive platforms, such as contextual footnotes, and institutional interventions like meme-based orientation activities to exploit humour's potential for fostering inclusive dialogue. Our research highlights how transient digital humour can provide deep insights into identity, community, and the complex dynamics of cross-cultural adaptation.