Identity, context collapse, and Facebook use in higher education: putting presence and privacy at odds

Abstract

This study examines university student’s attitudes toward Facebook use, focusing specifically on how they feel about using a social network that encourages the performance of personal and social identity to support learning and interaction among classmates and instructors. Two surveys elicited student habits, preferences, and beliefs related to identity, privacy, and context collapse. Findings show mixed feelings about Facebook use in a formal school context. Although some students were amenable to it, other students were not. They also expressed concern about requiring non-users, who had clear reasons for avoiding Facebook, to obtain accounts. Students preferred to think about Facebook as a primarily social space for interacting with friends and family, and many expressed reluctance about being Facebook friends with their instructors. Students engaged in practices such as adjusting privacy settings and self censoring in order to avoid context collapse between their social identities and their classroom identities.