Silence on Social Media: Factors Shaping Chinese International Students’ Decision on Speaking up on Social Media

ABSTRACT Chinese international students represent a distinct group for social media studies. The present research investigates the social media platforms they choose to express their opinions by conducting a phenomenological interview of 20 Chinese international students from different universities in the U.S. The result shows that the experience of studying abroad causes Chinese international students to have opinions that differ from those of the major users of Chinese social media; they prefer to express their opinions on Chinese social media; technological issues such as privacy settings and functions influence their choice; and, differences in gratifications lead to different choices of social media platforms.