The effect of social media like Facebook and Twitter have far-reaching consequences, and it is important to understand that these technologies can have positive and negative impacts on intercultural encounters because high-tech communication, we come into contact with people who are very different from ourselves, often in ways we don’t understand. The people we talk to on e-mail networks and blogs may speak languages different from our own, come from different countries, be of different ethnic backgrounds, and have had many different life experiences. For example, by using Twitter and Facebook, people were able to receive up-to-the-minute information and connect with friends and family in the immediate aftermath of the devastating Japanese tsunami in January 2011. One of the issues of interest to those who study intercultural communication is the “digital divide” that exists between those who have access to technologies like the Internet and those who do not. Studies show that in the United States the people most likely to have access to and use the Internet are young or middle age, have a college degree or are students, and have a comfortable income. Race and ethnicity doesn’t seem to play a role, if we compare similar levels of education and income.