Online Social Network and Intercultural Communication in Thai Society

Abstract

       The research aimed to explore the status, usage, and roles of social networking sites in intercultural communication of different regional groups in different contexts, and the impacts on interpersonal communication in Thai culture and on communication across cultures, including guidelines towards effective and appropriate usage of social networking sites in Thai society. The study was conducted by documentary research, focus group interview and survey questionnaires with students, governmental officers, and multinational company staffs, including in-depth interviews with scholars and professionals.

The results are as follows: 1) The subjects use “facebook” the most (88.75%) at “seldom” level (30.00%) to contact their present foreign friends or colleagues at school or in the workplace (46.80%). The most mentioned purpose of using SNS is to maintain their relationship (84.31%). 2) Increased roles of SNS usage in intercultural and cross cultural communication are found in various contexts and circles, i.e internal communication and organizational management, learning enhancement in educational and business circles, utilization for marketing and public relations, expansion of network and cooperation in social and political movement, and tools for mass media work across borders. 3) SNS usage is found to affect Thai people’s values and personality. On the other hand, it enhances their cultural learning and increase their positive attitude in intercultural communication. 4) A number of guidelines towards effective and appropriate SNS usage in Thai society are proposed in this study.