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The Latest Stay-in-School Tool for College Students: Facebook

You’re in the middle of writing a 10-page term paper, it’s 11 p.m., and there’s no end in sight. Looks like it’s time for Facebook.

That ever-beckoning distraction has led some people to see the combination of the popular social network and studying as an academic disaster. However, a recently published study in the Journal of College Student Retention finds that frequent Facebookers are actually more likely to return to their initial college after their freshman year. It's the latest in a series of studies exploring possible links between Facebook and academics.

In a survey of 375 randomly selected students at Abilene Christian University, those who were more active on the social network were likelier to return for their sophomore year. On average, returning sophomores had 27 more friends and 59 more wall posts than did students who didn't return.

Richard Beck, an author of the report, says there is often an "Animal House paradigm" associated with college students, meaning that all their time is either spent studying or slacking. But "it may be more complex than that, as students are trying to find both a vibrant academic and social life on campus,” he says.

The Facebook effect on college campuses is twofold, Beck says: Not only does the network make it easier for freshmen to find friends, but it also increases the likelihood of students' developing deeper friendships following chance encounters.

Both aspects, he argues, lead to a deeper sense of connection on both campus and in the classroom.

Other studies, conducted by Northwestern University and the University of New Hampshire, have found no relationship between time spent Facebooking and academic performance.

Eszter Hargittai, an associate professor of communication studies and sociology at Northwestern University, says studies making cause-and-effect claims about Facebook and student performance may fail to take into account another factor: socioeconomic background. Students with better-educated parents are both more likely to use Facebook and more likely to perform better academically, she says.

“The types of things students can do on Facebook can cancel each other out,” Hargittai says. “On one end, the connections one can make on it make students feel more comfortable linking up with others for class notes and advice. On the other end, it can be used for procrastination. I think there is definitely more room for research on the topic.”

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Comments

1. arrive2__net - September 03, 2010 at 07:47 pm

The article makes a good point ... that how you make a connection to your college may be less important than that you make it.

Considering all the distractions at college, it is tough to believe that Facebook, or social networking in general, would have that much stronger of a draw, and destructive value, than the other distractions. Once you are saturated with distractions, one more may not be that critical. The key point is how much time you spend on studies and how strong your drive and support for continuing is. What items are in the distraction pile matter much less, if you can control your focus. Facebook, involving thinking and texting, is more academic than some of those other distractions.

Bernard Schuster
Arrive2.net

2. raza_khan - September 07, 2010 at 10:17 am

Interesting contradictory studies! Well, that is the real pleasure of getting to read both sides, isn't it?

It is my humble opinion that as a faculty and generally speaking as an employee of an academic institution, it is our responsibility to to make connections between the college and the student - otherwise, none of us would be alumni :)

Said that, it is imperative that we morph ourselves to meet students need without losing the college's mission and our integrity and responsibility to the profession. There was a time (of course, it precedes me) when faculty members did not want to have a telephone in thier office and later emails as the opinion was that it was much better for the student to come personally and meet the faculty member. Of course, that rationale would fall on deaf ears in these days. The challange is how to "officially" promote facebook while staying out of students' personal lives!

Raza
_______________
Raza Khan

3. adelanajarro - September 07, 2010 at 10:35 am

I work in a first year program and just started a Facebook page for current and past students. This article confirms my suspicions that Facebook can be used to keep students connected and in school. We need to reach students where they are--and if it's Facebook, then let's give Facebook a college success flavor. Those wondering how--make a group for your class or student group or organization, and then invite students via email.

4. seanduke - September 07, 2010 at 12:13 pm

Ah...here is the key point: "...more likely to use Facebook for university-based relationships than non-persisters."

Wasn't sure from the article if they meant simply using Facebook, or using it with others at the university. That's a big difference. Found it at the Baywood web site.

5. chemmilt - September 07, 2010 at 05:39 pm

I must admit that I was very surprised. Very pleasantly surprised!

6. bhoward7 - September 08, 2010 at 12:44 pm

I wonder how the study controlled for the opposite effect, where people who were more likely to return where also more likely to use use Facebook, without any type of causal link.

Facebook has a half billion users and many of them are not freshmen in college. Perhaps the students who return are just more social, regardless of where they socialize.

7. sgailey54 - September 14, 2010 at 12:16 pm

"In a survey of 375 randomly selected students at Abilene Christian University, those who were more active on the social network were likelier to return for their sophomore year." AND "Other studies, conducted by Northwestern University and the University of New Hampshire, have found no relationship between time spent Facebooking and academic performance."

The outcome variable in the Abilene study is, apparently, one-year persistence; the outcome variable of the other studies is, apparently, academic performance (perhaps measured by first-year GPA). These are two different measures. A possible theory for the positive relationship between Facebook activity and persistence is that Facebook activity reflects a sociability that is associated with making friends on campus.

Susan Coia Gailey

8. eelalien - September 16, 2010 at 09:36 pm

Isn't this what keeps young adults in ANY place is all about - peer pressure? Makes no difference if f2f or online - big news in the 21st century...?