Abstract
Whilst recent studies suggest that over 95% of British undergraduate students are regularly using social networking sites, we still know very little about how this phenomenon impacts on the student experience and, in particular, how it influences students’ social integration into university life. This paper explores how pre‐registration engagement with a university Facebook network influences students’ post‐registration social networks. Research was conducted with first year undergraduates at a British university using an online survey. Students reported that they specifically joined Facebook pre‐registration as a means of making new friends at university, as well as keeping in touch with friends and family at home. The survey data also illustrate that once at university, Facebook was part of the ‘social glue’ that helped students settle into university life. However, care must be taken not to over‐privilege Facebook: it is clearly only one aspect of students’ more general social networking practices and face‐to‐face interrelationships and interactions remain important. Students thought Facebook was used most importantly for social reasons, not for formal teaching purposes, although it was sometimes used informally for learning purposes.
Highlights
According to Beer and Burrows (2007, 1.2), the exciting potential offered by Web 2.0 technologiesi for „reworking hierarchies, changing social divisions, creating possibilities and opportunities, informing us, and reconfiguring our relations with objects, spaces and each other‟ are yet to be fully explored
A clear picture is emerging whereby the students thought the use of Facebook was most importantly for social reasons, not for formal teaching purposes
Conclusions the results are only specific to first year undergraduates at the specific UK University in which we conducted our research, given recent research findings that over 95 per cent of British undergraduate students are regularly using social networking sites (Ipsos Mori, 2007), it would be surprising if similar tends were not occurring at other Higher Educational Institutions in the UK
Summary
According to Beer and Burrows (2007, 1.2), the exciting potential offered by Web 2.0 technologiesi for „reworking hierarchies, changing social divisions, creating possibilities and opportunities, informing us, and reconfiguring our relations with objects, spaces and each other‟ are yet to be fully explored. In our research a clear picture emerged whereby first year undergraduate students generally thought the use of Facebook was most importantly for social purposes, secondarily for informal learning purposes (i.e. for student-to-student interactions about academic work-related matters) but definitely not for formal teaching purposes (i.e. between staff and student and involving formal assessment). 53 per cent of respondents did reply more positively about the use of Facebook for formal teaching and learning purposes and they made a series of suggestions about the ways in which Facebook could be used These included providing social and peerled academic support for students in departments, revision opportunities and using Facebook to inform students of changes to lecture times. The students appeared to draw a distinction between the positive use of Facebook for departmental and module level administrative arrangements (many of their suggestions for using Facebook related to notices, timetabling and setting up discussion groups) and the more negative view with respect to contact via Facebook for central University administrative matters
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