Identifying Cultural and Cognitive Challenges Affecting Users’ Use of Foreign Social Networks

Abstract

This study aimed to identify the cultural and cognitive challenges affecting users’ use of foreign social networks. This study employed an exploratory qualitative design. Participants included university professors, researchers, and specialists in communication sciences, cultural studies, media studies, cyberspace, cognitive psychology, sociology of communication, media management, and related fields. Participants were selected through purposive sampling, and recruitment continued until data saturation was achieved. A total of 15 semi-structured interviews were conducted. After recording and verbatim transcription, the interview data were analyzed using thematic analysis. The analytical process included familiarization with the data, initial coding, extraction of concepts, development of subthemes, review and refinement of themes, and definition of the final overarching themes. MAXQDA software was used to organize, manage, and retrieve the qualitative data throughout the analytical process. The analysis identified six major cultural challenges affecting users’ engagement with foreign social networks: value conflict, cultural identity challenge, discursive challenge, normative conflict, representational challenge, and cultural inferiority. Six major cognitive challenges were also identified: information overload, filter bubbles, reduced attention span, confirmation bias, fear of missing out (FOMO), and cognitive fatigue. The findings further indicated that cultural and cognitive challenges were interconnected rather than independent. Cognitive mechanisms influenced how users received, evaluated, and interpreted culturally embedded messages, while cultural backgrounds and value systems affected the selection, interpretation, and processing of information encountered on foreign social networks. The use of foreign social networks is a multidimensional phenomenon shaped by the interaction of users’ cultural contexts, cognitive processes, and platform mechanisms. Identifying these challenges can provide an empirical basis for developing educational and cultural interventions aimed at promoting more conscious, critical, balanced, and cognitively sustainable engagement with foreign social networks.