An investigation of the physical and digital transitions of Saudi students coming to the UK

The transition from the home to the host country for international students has been always considered a sensitive period. Students face multiple social, cultural and academic challenges during this time. For Saudi students coming to the UK, the experience can be especially challenging, because they are moving from a conservative Muslim culture to a more open society. By considering their physical and digital transitions, the aim of this research is to understand how Saudi students in the UK perceive their use of social media during their transition. A mixed methods approach is to be used in this research. A preliminary analysis of the qualitative data, discussed in this paper, shows a strong relationship between how the students conceive transition and their use of social media. At times or for some students coming to the UK was conceived as a significant identity change, and they had to make choices about how to reconfigure their digital presence to represent and support this transition. Other students conceived of the transition purely pragmatically; they made the physical move but their social media usage remained a vehicle to stay in contact with family and friends.