Gabrielle – thank you for sharing more about your experience in working with individuals who are migrating to the United States. In your opinion, do you think that people have an accurate view of the U.S.?

I remember when I lived in China, now almost 30 years ago, many people would ask me about different American movies and whether the US was like these movies. Since this was before social media, most information on American culture was gathered through movies and shows. At that time in my life, I was worried that an inaccurate picture was being created for individuals outside the US by only looking at movies to learn more about the culture in the US. Now, I am even more concerned that people outside of the US are learning about culture through social media. I do not see that social media is able to accurately represent everyday life in this country.

On the other hand, I see social media as a quick and anonymous way to learn more information about a culture or a country. Since many people post information, pictures and thoughts on social media, a new person could get important ideas on the unknown culture.

– For anyone: What are your thoughts – do you believe that social media would be a positive source of information for a person new to a culture?