Facebook Transition to College

Full Terms & Conditions of access and use can be found at
http://www.tandfonline.com/action/journalInformation?journalCode=cjfh20
Download by: [University of Nevada Las Vegas] Date: 21 February 2017, At: 12:41
Journal of Further and Higher Education
ISSN: 0309-877X (Print) 1469-9486 (Online) Journal homepage: http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/cjfh20
Facebook, crowdsourcing and the transition to
college
Kimberly Nehls & Jake Livengood
To cite this article: Kimberly Nehls & Jake Livengood (2017): Facebook, crowdsourcing
and the transition to college, Journal of Further and Higher Education, DOI:
10.1080/0309877X.2017.1281885
To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/0309877X.2017.1281885
Published online: 21 Feb 2017.
Submit your article to this journal
View related articles
View Crossmark data

Journal of Further and Higher Education, 2017
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/0309877X.2017.1281885
Facebook, crowdsourcing and the transition to college
Kimberly Nehlsa
and Jake Livengoodb
a
Department of Educational Psychology and Higher Education, University of Nevada, Las Vegas, NV, USA; b
Global
Education & Career Development, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA
ABSTRACT
The purpose of this study is to enhance our understanding of how college
students connect online prior to their first year. Before students ever set
foot on a college campus, they are making friends, joining clubs, locating
activities, finding roommates and discussing future student activities all
through the social network site, Facebook. Anticipatory socialisation theory
frames this research to focus on the social, academic and career aspects of
the transition. A case study approach and content analysis methodology
sought to better understand frequent topics and themes for pre-college
students. The primary foci of the pre-college Facebook interactions were
connectivity and commonality among new students. An unintended finding
was the discovery of crowdsourcing on post-secondary social media sites.
Crowdsourcing taps into the collective intelligence of the public to complete
tasks that an organisation would normally either perform itself or contract
to a third-party provider; hence, outsourcing to a crowd. In this case, the
crowd is comprised of pre-college students about to start their first year of
post-secondary education.
Introduction
The New York Times published an article titled, ‘Make Friends Online and You Won’t Start College
Friendless’(Lombardi 2007).This article described how Facebook transformed the transition from high
school to college by linking students prior to arriving on campus. Before students ever set foot on
campus, they were making friends, joining clubs, locating activities, finding roommates and discussing
future student events. The purpose of this study was to enhance our understanding of how college
students connected via Facebook on university-sponsored pages prior to their first year of post-sec-
ondary education. Facebook is an online social networking tool that was originally created for college
students, and it leads the market for online student networking (Heiberger and Harper 2008; Junco 2012;
Martinez-Alemán and Wartman 2008). Facebook is well-known and widespread: 1.44 billion personal
accounts are registered, and more than half of those users log in at least once a day (Facebook 2015;
Pew Research Center 2015).This study sought to determine what students discussed prior to their first
year and if online connectivity impacted the transition to college.
Few studies have explored the role of social media during the transition to the first year of college,
and this one is unique in that it focuses on Facebook groups, rather than individual use of social media.
Technology has changed the way that college students interact with one another, even before they
take their first class. Martinez-Alemán and Wartman (2008, 42) indicated, ‘Social networking sites like
Facebook are for this generation of college and university students a fundamental component of their
ARTICLE HISTORY
Received 15 January 2015
Accepted 19 May 2016
KEYWORDS
Facebook; college; university;
transition; higher education;
crowdsourcing
© 2017 UCU
CONTACT Kimberly Nehls kim.nehls@unlv.edu

2 K. NEHLS AND J. LIVENGOOD
lived experiences, and an important element of the phenomenology of campus culture’. The potential
of Facebook for helping students connect, communicate and affiliate with their campuses also high-
lights its usefulness (Davis et al. 2015; Ghosh, Chawla, & Mallott, 2012; Nehls and Smith 2014; Russell,
Nazione, and Smith 2012).
Theoretical framework
Anticipatory socialisation was the theoretical lens used for this study.This theory refers to a‘premature
taking on or identification with the behavior and attitudes of an aspired to group’(Attinasi 1989, 266).
The theory focused on how individuals learn about the broad set of behaviours, attitudes and values of
those who inhabit the role to which they aspire (Merton 1957). Anticipatory socialisation may explain
how a student ascends to group membership and how his or her acclimation into the group is eased
or enhanced (Attinasi 1989; Shields 2002). As incoming college students prepare for the next phase in
life and education, a variety of components influence expectations for a future role, including anxiety
and stressors related to family expectations (Shields 2002), involvement socially (Korte and Sylvester
1982), and also messages sent from educational institutions, friends and the mass media (Levine and
Hoffner 2006). New peer relationships and interactions serve as one of the major processes through
which students become socially integrated into the college environment (Pascarella andTerenzini 1980;
Yang and Brown. 2013). Scholars have indicated that when students’‘induction experience’or onboard-
ing to university was poor or weak, negative feelings toward the institution could persist long after the
transition and may even result in withdrawal (Currant and Keenan 2009).
One of the ways in which incoming students are connecting with their institution and other students
is through the use of social media, which refers‘not only to a set of nascent internet technologies but
also to a new form of communication that promotes interaction and dialogue’(Muñoz and Strotmeyer
2010).The use of social media is also related to connections to peers and the campus in general (Davis
et al. 2015; Ghosh, Chawla, and Mallott 2012; Sandlin and Peña 2014).
Socialisation in college typically happens after a student arrives on campus and becomes acclimated
to campus life in residential and classroom experiences. Anticipatory socialisation is different insomuch
as it focuses on the expectancy of becoming a college student. Pre-college students are those individuals
who have been admitted but have not yet started a course of study.These students are learning a set of
expectations for their future roles. In particular, the theory defines three anticipatory roles for pre-college
students: social, academic and future career roles (Berg 2001; Reitzes 1981). These three anticipatory
roles shaped the research questions and data analysis for this study. The research questions were:
(1) What are common topics and themes for pre-college students on university-sponsored
Facebook groups?
(2) What aspects of anticipatory socialisation (social, academic and/or future career) are evidenced
by pre-college students while participating in university-sponsored Facebook groups?
(3) In what ways, if any, has Facebook influenced the college student transition?
Research methodology and sample
In order to address the research questions above, an exploratory, instrumental, multi-site case study
approach was used.The instrumental case study gains a broader appreciation of an issue or phenome-
non (Stake 1995).We examined the phenomenon of Facebook group usage prior to the start of college.
Facebook groups enable people to come together virtually around a specific subject to discuss issues,
post photos, create updates and engage one another in conversation. In our initial search for data, we
discovered at least 500 pre-college groups based in the United States. These pre-college groups were
developed by both students and administrators to initiate discussion about future attendance at a

JOURNAL OF FURTHER AND HIGHER EDUCATION 3
specific institution. Typically, the colleges created the Facebook pages, and then the newly-admitted
students directed the conversations and posts on those pages.
Purposeful criterion sampling was used to identify six pre-college Facebook groups for this study.
The researchers selected the first three open-access Facebook groups to the search query‘Class of 2013
College’and the first three open-access‘Class of 2013 University’groups in the Facebook search func-
tion. Open-access groups are available to the general public, unrestricted, and do not require joining
the group to participate or view postings. The authors’ Institutional Review Board (IRB) deemed the
research exempt from full IRB board review since the data were public and accessible by anyone with
an internet connection. We took precautions in protecting the identities of the university students by
offering pseudonyms of both the institutions and names of the individuals. Open-access groups also
provided the greatest variety of postings (as recommended by Creswell 2007) because the largest and
most frequently visited Facebook groups are typically listed first in a search. Each of the six Facebook
groups became its own case within the scope of the study. College A greeted users to their Facebook
group with the following message, and such a message was typical of the institutions’ headings to
their pages:
Welcome to the official College A Class of 2013 Facebook page.The relationships you form here at the College will
stay with you for life. And this [Facebook group] is an easy way to stay connected to your classmates and alma mater.
Use this site to share updates, post pictures of your college experience and the campus, find out about college
events or suggest a topic for everyone to discuss. This is your space – enjoy it.
The authors analysed content from the six different institutions during the months of June, July and
August, prior to the start of the students’first semester, to specifically look at this key transition time for
pre-college students.We removed all institutional and individual identifiers in our findings section, but
we did not adjust any spelling, grammar, emoticons and/or any other nuances of posts in order to make
the reporting as authentic as possible. The colleges were renamed College A, College B and College C.
The universities were designated University X, University Y and University Z. We have no connections
or working relationships with the institutions we examined. While the authors were not looking for a
representative sample, the six institutions examined were both public and private, as well as large and
small institutions located all over the continental United States, in rural, suburban and urban locations.
Researchers utilised procedures for conducting content analysis as outlined by Berg (2001) and
procedures for case study as outlined by Stake (1995). In an effort to find what was‘most promising and
useful’, researchers examined all forms of content in the Facebook groups that were available to the
general public, especially wall posts, shared links, videos, photos and subsequent discussions (Creswell
2007). All content from June, July and August in 2009 – the months leading up to the first semester of
enrollment for the Class of 2013 – were examined. In total, the research team read and coded 4540 posts
independently by hand, and then reviewed each one for inter-rater reliability.The rate of reliability was
more than 90%, which met the necessary threshold for trustworthiness.
To reiterate, the theory of anticipatory socialisation can be separated into three categories for pre-col-
lege students: (1) the future academic role as a student, (2) future occupations/career expectations, and
(3) future social relationships (Berg 2001; Reitzes 1981). Data were initially coded deductively within
these three categories.The academic/ future student role comprised 1450 posts or 31.94% of the online
discussion. Future occupations and career postings only accounted for 72 posts or less than 2% of
discussion. By far, social roles and relationships accounted for the greatest number of postings: 3018,
or 66.48% of all data. Within the three initial categories, researchers sought to identify patterns in the
data and as an aggregate (Stake 1995).
Additional categories that did not match the initial codes were identified inductively in open coding.
First impressions from the data were constantly revisited between the researchers to enhance under-
standing of the content’s meaning (ibid). Notes and reflective memos also accompanied each open
code and researchers checked coding from each comment that was posted within the Facebook group,
which enhanced inter-rater reliability (Bernard and Ryan 2010). Reflective memos and observations
were provided in detail and compared between researchers. A codebook was jointly established to
provide a roadmap for future coding (Bernard and Ryan 2010; Van Maanen, Miller, Johnson 1982).

Throughout this analysis, the researchers sought to gain an‘understanding of how participants make
meaning of a situation or phenomenon’ (Merriam 2008, 6). The interpretive and qualitative method
means that the researchers were not critical in the analysis; instead,‘the strategy is inductive and the
outcome is descriptive’(ibid). Our descriptive results are presented in the next section.
Results
Common topics and themes for pre-college students on Facebook groups
Frequent topics ranged from questions and comments about conventional pre-college programmes
like orientation, to unconventional discussions about interests and hobbies. However, the most com-
mon theme that emerged from our cross-case analysis was finding commonalities among peers. The
search for‘anyone else like me’was evident across all anticipatory roles – i.e. Anyone else enrolled in this
major, living in this residence hall, or watching this TV show? The‘similarities’theme was so prevalent
that it threaded throughout all the findings. In particular, pre-college students were looking for others
with the same sorts of interests and feelings. This finding supports the work by Strayhorn (2012, 3) on
Sense of Belonging:
Sense of belonging is relational, and thus there’s a reciprocal quality to relationships that provide a sense of
belonging. Each member benefits from the group and the group, in a sense, benefits from the contributions of
each member … Under optimal conditions, members feel that the group is important to them and that they are
important to the group. The group satisfies the needs of the individual – in exchange for membership, they will
be cared for and supported.
The need for connection among incoming college students was pronounced as evidenced in these
two short examples:
Anyone else out there love hard rockin’ bands? (Posted by College C student on 28 August at 10.29 pm)
I was just wondering who all out there is gearing up for the NFL season and what teams you follow?? Personally, I am a
steelers fan =) (Posted by University Y student on 9 August at 5.13 am)
These two examples were coded within the social theme, and social relationships dominated the
content of wall posts. Further details about all three anticipatory roles will now be described.
Theme 1: Future social relationships
Social posts addressed a range of topics, including discussion about hobbies, sports, music, geographic
location, food and where to get a haircut on campus. Incoming students also used group discussion
to validate an emotion or experience. Students appeared to use very candid and casual language in
their posts, including using abbreviations and slang. The candid style was used across all future roles
but especially in social contexts. In one example featured here, the students at College B were looking
to set up a party at their future college. Noteworthy is that this discussion took place in mid-July, long
before the students were actually on campus:
Student ELM on 12 July at 9.11 am: most def. lets start planning the biggest party ever! lol
Student UP on 12 July at 12.09 pm: i’m definitely down for this..should it be a theme party?
Student SM on 12 July at 1.05 pm: I’m up for a theme. Costumes!! :)
Students used informal interactions as a way of developing camaraderie with future classmates and
developed common areas of interest prior to moving on campus. Such interactions also appeared to
set a lighter tone during a potentially anxious transition, and these‘fun’discussions were likely differ-
ent than the procedural communications from the institution. The students, therefore, were seeking
information, but were also seeking friendship and peer connection prior to university. Additionally,
peer replies to questions were often done rapidly, even at extreme times of the night. Not all posts
were responded to in this quick fashion, but many posts were made promptly and outside of typical
‘business hours’of the university.

Theme 2: Future role as a student
Student and academic posts addressed issues such as campus policies, orientation, roommates, financial
aid, getting an email address and establishing class schedules. Students attempted to gain answers
to process-related questions about college life by asking peers on the Facebook group, even if these
questions were answered by more conventional means, such as a university publication or website.The
post below from a student at College A highlighted the numerous questions that were asked about pro-
cesses related to being a future student.The student is asking the question on behalf of his/her parents.
Student KK on 17 June at 6.22 am: My parents are already thinking about Christmas, when is the last day of classes
for winter break?
Student BT response on 17 June at 6.40 am: Here is the academic calendar [link]. As you’ll see the residence halls close
by noon the 23rd. That is the absolute last point in time when you can be in the residence halls. However, your finals may
be over a day or two before that. It all depends and you won’t know for sure until November.
Student replies to peer questions were often done rapidly; in the example above the reply came
less than half an hour after the question was posted at 6.30 am. Not all posts were responded to in this
fashion, but many were addressed immediately – on all the Facebook groups we analysed regardless
of institutional type and location. Additionally, students did not appear hesitant to provide honest and
candid feedback about institutional policies, procedures or events. Feedback ranged from very specific
to very general, and it was both positive (I love orientation!) and negative (I hate waiting for my room-
mate assignment!). At times, conflicting feedback was offered within the same posting. Again, students
tended to ask questions that could be answered by referring to other communication pieces distributed
by the college. We also found many answers to questions in previous Facebook posts. However, it was
clear that students who had questions did not read the previous wall posts and appeared to want an
answer to a particular question more immediately. Many posts had a sense of urgency, which was evi-
denced in the words used, and also in the punctuation and use of capitalization. This is demonstrated
in the following posts from students at University Z:
Student BY on 29 August at 3.08 pm: hey are there any people in psych 103???? i just transferred to it and i have no idea
what its about or what i need lol. help!!!!
Student FC on 18 August at 8.13 am: Did anyone else NOT receive a parking pass in the mail??? OMG.
The desire for peer feedback was consistent with other studies on social media. Sandlin and Peña (2014,
2), for example, stated,‘Innovative online social media that involve student participation can provide a
more dynamic and authentic depiction of the college experience than can pamphlets, brochures, and
other traditional recruitment materials.’ Students were not simply consuming information online. In
the Facebook groups analysed, they were active participants, which indicated a movement away from
one-way pre-college communication reflective of straightforward university-to-student communica-
tion, to two-way or three-way communication – also student to college and student to students.These
findings indicate that institutions of higher education can potentially use this tool for communicating
in new formats as well as to encourage a sense of belonging. Social media is increasingly a central part
of how we all communicate, and these Facebook groups were no different.
Theme 3: Future occupations and careers
Very few postings reflected the final aspect of the anticipatory socialisation theory about careers and
work. This was not surprising given that many pre-college students were just starting to think about
their majors and classes, instead of focusing on the post-degree transition into the workplace. A few
students wanted to connect with other students involved in the same major or their area of speciality
within a major, e.g. a specific time period for history majors. Other students wanted to connect around
particular classes and readings for those classes. Students also asked about employment opportunities,
but these predominantly related to US federal work study jobs, which are tied to financial aid packages
for students. Therefore, US work study employment is unlikely to be related to a future occupation or

career, and posts about work study were coded withinTheme 2, Role as a Student, under the category
of financial aid. A rare career post is exemplified by the student from University X below.
Student AS on 25 August at 7.00 pm: I need someone to do me a favor b/c I’ve decided to double major in nutritional
sci and community health, and I want to get an internship in this area so i can get a job right out of college and hit the
ground running with a dietician career. help.
How has Facebook influenced the college student transition?
Open-coding revealed that the students’purposes for Facebook group participation were (1) creating
a support system online, (2) finding answers to questions about the institution, (3) establishing school
pride and camaraderie. First, as pre-college students anticipate their future roles, they simply want to
find others experiencing similar things – from where to buy XL twin bed sheets for their residence hall
to how to say good-bye to boy/girlfriends/partners back home. Intermixed is a muddled and complex
set of emotions.The varying range of emotions included anxiety, excitement and sorrow.Take, for exam-
ple, this interaction from incoming freshmen who were concerned about not receiving their college
email addresses. This interaction appears to be associated with a sense of belonging, connectedness
and supporting each other:
Student JG on 13 August at 12.07 pm: Hey guys, just got my [college] mail and e-campus login information in the mail
today, so be on the look-out!
Student AC on 13 August at 12.18 pm: I want my email address!!!
StudentYZ on 13 August at 1.03 pm: Emailaddresscomingthisweek?!?!YES!!!Ishouldbegettingmineeithertomorrow
or Saturday!!!
Meanwhile, on a completely different university pre-college Facebook page, nearly the exact same
discussion was taking place:
Student GH on 5 August at 7.52 pm: I know that this question has been asked a million times; this is more frustration
than curiosity: AGHHH WHEN ARE OUR EMAIL ADDRESSES COMING I really want to join the network…
UniversityY staff person on 5 August at 9.09 pm: ITwillsendyouinformationaboutloggingon[toourcollege’ssystem]
in a few weeks. Take care, Bob
Student GH on 5 August at 10.22 pm: that seems so far away! But okay :(
The above examples also exemplifies how excited the students were to be included in their future
college or university.The students could not wait to be on campus, and getting the‘university.edu’email
address was one of the first signs that they had made it as a post-secondary student. The university
email address was a significant rite-of-passage discussion in all of the Facebook groups. The students
also shared lines from school songs, delivered mascot shout-outs and contributed information about
where to purchase campus clothes. School pride was established and shared within every college and
university group analysed.
Students also engaged in flippant, quirky and candid discussions. Two quick wall posts below are
examples of this concept:
University Z student on 3 August at 1.42 am: Rulesaresimple.onepersonproposesafight/race/epicduel/othercontest
between 2 people. the next picks a winner and proposes a new challenge involving that winner. Example: person 1: race
between michael phelps and a dolphin.
UniversityY student on 19 August at 8.24 pm: sowe’vediscussedmusicmoviesandbooks.whynotfood?Ilovepopcorn,
most asian cuisines and mediterranean (near eastern) foods
These interactions have little to do with the official, university-prescribed transition to life in college.
However, the online peer interactions served as a means of developing camaraderie with future class-
mates prior to the first year – and all of the Facebook groups, regardless of institutional type, featured
these fun, interactive postings.The Facebook postings appeared to draw students together and build a
sense of community long before arriving on campus. Higher education scholars have long shown that

students who feel a social connection and sense of belonging persist in post-secondary institutions
(e.g. Astin 1984; Pascarella andTerenzini 1980; Strayhorn 2012).This study extends that notion to social
media. Perceived connections to peers and the institutions start online before the first year. Building
online communities and developing answers through group-think is an example of crowdsourcing.The
concept of crowdsourcing was a surprising finding within the scope of this study; it will be explained
in the next section.
Crowdsourcing and the college transition
Jeff Howe coined the term‘crowdsourcing’in a 2006 Wired magazine article and furthered its meaning
in a subsequent book. Crowdsourcing is defined as‘The process by which the power of the many can
be leveraged to accomplish feats that were once the province of a specialized few’(Howe 2008, 10).The
key idea behind this concept is tapping into the collective intelligence of the public to complete tasks
that an organisation would normally either perform itself or contract to a third-party provider; hence,
outsourcing to a crowd = crowdsourcing. The advent of high-speed internet access and associated
widespread online participatory culture have made crowdsourcing possible today. As this is a relatively
new term, it has not been advanced within the higher education literature, although crowdsourcing
definitely has applicability to this study.
One example of crowdsourcing is InnoCentive.com. On this website, individuals compete to pro-
vide ideas and solutions to important business, social, policy, scientific and technical challenges.
Organisations such as NASA and Procter Gamble use this site to find individuals outside their com-
panies to solve tasks. Typically the problems are solved by a heterogeneous group faster and more
cost effectively than by company experts, and the ‘solvers’ are awarded cash prizes. In a similar vein,
Facebook groups for pre-college students can be considered a form of crowdsourcing. The students
are not awarded prizes, but they are awarded new friends, social capital and better connectivity to
their future campuses.
Four components must be present for crowdsourcing to exist (Brabham 2013). First, an organisation
has a task that it needs to be performed. In the case of new college students, the colleges are looking to
socialise their students to college and provide a comfortable transition. Second, a community is willing
to perform the task voluntarily. Students who participated in the Facebook groups were volunteers and
eager to participate in their new colleges’sites and communicate with others in a similar circumstance.
Third, an online environment allows the work to take place and the community to interact.The institu-
tion could have established a blog, a wiki or another online space for the new students to congregate
online before the first year of college. However, since the majority of students are already on Facebook,
it made sense to create a site where the students already participated. Furthermore, Facebook is highly
interactive, allowing participants to like each other’s discussions, respond with comments and photos,
and individually contact and follow up with others. In this sense, the Facebook forum was a great way
for new students to connect. Finally, the fourth component of crowdsourcing is that there is mutual
benefit for the organisation and the community. Colleges and universities seek better integration of
new students, an extension of orientation and potential for retention.
Recent studies have analysed the reasons why individuals participate in crowdsourcing (e.g. Brabham
2013; Liu, Liao, and Zeng 2007; Nov 2007). Participants allude to both ‘intrinsic motivators (such as
entertainment or a challenge) and extrinsic motivators (such as financial reward, fame, or social pres-
sure)’ as reasons to respond to a crowdsourced request (Brabham 2013, 62). Additionally, Liu, Liao,
and Zeng (2007) listed‘connecting with people’as one of the most valued rewards for crowdsourcing,
whereas Nov (2007) reported‘fun’as a high-ranking motivator. Pre-college students could participate in
Facebook groups for many of these same reasons, although further study about intrinsic and extrinsic
motivation is necessary to confirm. Future research on crowdsourcing within higher education online
platforms is warranted.

Discussion
Social media like Facebook have provided new opportunities for creating and sharing content among
incoming university students; however, post-secondary institutions are continuously challenged with
how to manage social media. For example, Davis et al. (2015, 412) reported that most institutions use
social media only for one-way communication,‘from the institution to the student, shortchanging the
potential for multiway interaction inherent in [social media technology]’. Institutions are primarily using
Facebook as a means of offering details about events or programmes, and not for building rapport and
information exchange. As we found in this study, Facebook has the potential to create more interactions
among pre-college students.This research is evidence of communication among new students where
it previously did not exist without social media.
Even when information is provided and available via other university websites or paperwork, students
turn to social media and, often, demand instant answers. Universities may independently determine
how responsive they are to student concerns posted on social media.Timeliness of responses will vary
from institution to institution, based upon staffing and additional resources to support social media.
Relevant discussions are occurring at universities to establish social media policies for faculty, staff and
students. For example, see the University of Houston’s website (www.uh.edu/policies/social-media/) that
focuses entirely on social media.This website is a‘living document’that is constantly being updated as
new information impacts current policy. Universities may want to develop ways to share information
beyond traditional means of mailing paperwork or uploading to websites. Duplicating or even tripli-
cating information through social media sites will work to ensure correct information is being passed
along to students where they already are. Davis et al. (2015, 409) indicate, ‘For this generation, social
media exchanges are a primary means of communication.’Thus, while institutions of higher education
are publishing information via conventional means of paper or website, students are primarily engaging
through social media technology. Institutions should be mindful to approach both opportunities as
useful tools to communicate with new students.
Limitations
This study examined a sample of Facebook groups from just six different institutions. Although we
analysed more than 4500 postings within our pre-college groups, it should be noted that our findings
cannot be generalised beyond the cases of this research project (Merriam 2008).The data observed and
the resulting findings cannot be assumed to relate to all pre-college students. The evolving nature of
Facebook itself may also be a limitation of this study because the social network is a rapidly changing
technology. The environment in which the posts were made is most likely different to that which the
students would post in today. Incoming students may be using different social media or different pages
within Facebook (Nehls and Smith 2014). As such, our study can only be considered as examining one
three-month period of time on a dynamic form of social media.
Recommendations for further research
Additional research examining the intersection of social media and incoming college students is war-
ranted. This study can be expanded upon both methodologically and topically. Online interviews or
focus groups with pre-college students, probing their use of Facebook and other forms of social media
during the transition to higher education, would help further explore the questions guiding our study
and motivations for participation. Likewise, an online student survey could potentially yield interac-
tions between demographic characteristics and Facebook activity that this content analysis was not
able to discern. It may also be interesting to replicate this study by using the least-visited open-access
Facebook groups to determine if there is a difference in the conversations among incoming freshmen
who have active online social media sites versus inactive sites.

Additionally, a comment made by a student at University Z piqued our interest regarding a potential
research topic:
Student LJH on 15 August: I know this page is used to help us get adjusted to each other before school but after we all
get there, will anyone really still be on this page? .... Hope so!
The scope of this study was limited to the three months leading up to the start of the school year;
communication after matriculation tapered off from the level we observed, but another study may
want to investigate this further.
Another idea is to ascertain the perceptions of university staff and administrators regarding their use
of Facebook and college transitions; this may provide very useful insights into what does or does not
work for particular departments or units on a campus. In our study, students provided the majority of
the content within the Facebook groups, and college staff and administrators posted very infrequently.
Staff postings were simply in response to policy- or procedural-related questions. Sporadic staff com-
munication seemed to meet the basic needs of answering questions for groups in this study.
Often, research into a new technology may focus on how to manage or control the innovation.
However, we agree with the perspective of Kolek and Saunders (2008, 18), who state,‘The widespread
use of Facebook necessitates not only a need for … attentiveness and creativity concerning ways in
which institutions can use Facebook and other social networking sites to further their goals.’The goals
for pre-college Facebook groups may only be creating a sense of belonging and an increased sense
of school pride. If no other purposes are met, the Facebook groups may still be seen as successful for
institutions which desire the fulfilment of these objectives. Regardless, there are a plethora of social
media and pre-college topics to be examined further (Lloyd, Dean, and Cooper 2009). In particular,
newer forms of social media targeting a younger crowd, such asYikYak, Instagram and Snapchat, should
be examined for college-going patterns. International social media, including China’s RenRen, also
deserves study among college-going populations.
Conclusion and recommendations for higher education
Looking ahead, the main challenge will be for college staff to accurately address questions in a 24-hour,
computer-mediated environment.The rapid-response of Facebook group postings is evidenced below
at College B. Notice that the timeframe for the initial question is at night, and the response is only
minutes behind:
Student CS on 5 August at 7.16 pm: do i register for classes before i go to orientation? or do i wait till i get there and
do it with my academic advisor?
Student KF on 5 August at 7.21 pm: wait till you get there and you talk abt things you possibly want or look at taking
and then you go in a room ad sign up for the classes by yourself on [the class registration computer system].
Student CS on 5 August at 7.39 pm: that’s what i thought thanks so much!
While we could determine the speed of responses from the time stamp on the posts, we were unable
to assess the accuracy of the responses. A potential risk of social media student groups may be indi-
viduals unknowingly feeding one another misinformation. We found one example of a student cor-
recting another student, as well as another example of a staff member clarifying a previous response
to a question.
Overall, findings indicate that pre-college students are seeking friends and information during their
transition to college, and they are turning to social media to establish school pride and sense of belong-
ing. Facebook is bridging the virtual and physical worlds through the use of pre-college groups. As
exemplified in the quote above with Students CS and KF, the online response is encouraging the student
to physically go and talk to someone about class registration when on campus. Other posts encouraged
attendance at orientation programmes and other onboarding events for new students. In general, the
Facebook groups were providing reminders of such events and proffering reinforcement to attend.

With the prevalence of Facebook and its increasing use among all age groups, online interactions
with institutions of higher education are only going to increase in the future (Junco 2012; Pew Research
Center 2015). Planning for and acting on the online opportunities is advantageous to increase commu-
nication and engagement for new students. In the words of Muñoz and Strotmeyer (2010, 125),‘Social
media must bridge the physical and virtual worlds in a way that is mutually reinforcing.’Facebook and
other social networking sites need to champion a culture of connectivity to the campus that starts long
before the students begin their first year. When social media is used to meet students where they are,
educators can leverage these tools to ease the transition to college.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.
Notes on contributors
Kimberly Nehls, PhD, is the Executive Director of the Association for the Study of Higher Education and a visiting faculty
member at UNLV.
Jake Livengood, PhD, is the Senior Assistant Director for Graduate Student Career Services for MIT Global Education and
Career Development.
References
Astin, A.W. 1984.“Student Involvement: A DevelopmentalTheory for Higher Education.”JournalofCollegeStudentPersonnel
25 (4): 297–308.
Attinasi, L. C. (1989). Getting in: Mexican Americans' Perceptions of University Attendance and the Implications for Freshman
Year Persistence. The Journal of Higher Education, 60 (3): 247–277.
Berg, B. L. 2001. “An Introduction to Content Analysis.” In Qualitative Research Methods for Social Sciences, edited by B. L.
Berg, 238–267. Boston, MA: Allyn Bacon.
Bernard, H. R., and G. W. Ryan. 2010. Analyzing Qualitative Data: Systematic Approaches. Thousand Oaks: Sage.
Brabham, D. C. 2013. Crowdsourcing. Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press.
Creswell, J. W. 2007. Qualitative Inquiry Research Design. Thousand Oaks: Sage.
Currant, B., and Keenan, C. (2009). Evaluating Systematic Transition to Higher Education. Brookes EJournal of Learning and
Teaching, 2 (4). Accessed http://bejlt.brookes.ac.uk/articles/evaluating_systematic_transition_to_higher_education/
Davis, C. H. III, Deil-Amen, R., Rios-Aguilar, C., and González Canché, M. S. (2015). Social Media, Higher Education, and
Community Colleges: A Research Synthesis and Implications for the Study ofTwo-Year Institutions. Community College
Journal of Research and Practice, 39 (5), 409-422. doi: 10.1080/10668926.2013.828665
Facebook. 2015. Facebook Stats. Accessed http://newsroom.fb.com/company-info/
Ghosh, K., S. Chawla, and K. Mallott (2012). Use of Social Media by U.S. Colleges: Potential and Pitfalls. Journal of Higher
Education Theory and Practice, 12 (2): 105-118.
Heiberger, G., and R. Harper. 2008.“HaveYou Facebooked Astin Lately? UsingTechnology to Increase Student Involvement.”
New Directions for Student Services 2008: 19–35.
Howe, J. 2008. Crowdsourcing: Why the Power of the Crowd is Driving the Future of Business. New York: Random House.
Junco, R. 2012.“The Relationship between Frequency of Facebook Use, Participation in Facebook Activities, and Student
Engagement.”Computers Education 58 (1): 162–171. doi:10.1016/j.compedu.2011.08.004.
Kolek, E., and D. Saunders. 2008.“Online Disclosure: An Empirical Examination of Undergraduate Facebook Profiles.”NASPA
Journal 45 (1): 1–25.
Korte, C., and A. Sylvester. 1982. “Expectations, Experience, and Anticipatory Socialization at a Scottish University.” The
Journal of Social Psychology 118 (2): 187–197.
Levine, K., and C. Hoffner. 2006. “Adolescents' Conceptions of Work: What is Learned from Different Sources during
Anticipatory Socialization?”Journal of Adolescent Research 21 (6): 647–669. doi:10.1177/0743558406293963.
Liu, S.-H., H.-L. Liao, and Y.-T. Zeng. 2007.“Why People Blog: An Expectancy Theory Analysis.”Issues in Information Systems
8 (2): 232–237.
Lloyd, J. M., L. A. Dean, and D. L. Cooper. 2009.“Students’Technology Use and Its Effects on Peer Relationships, Academic
Involvement, and Healthy Lifestyles.”NASPA Journal 46 (4): 695–709.
Lombardi, K. S. (2007). Make New Friends Online and You Won’t Start College Friendless. New York times. Accessed http://
www.nytimes.com/2007/03/21/education/21friends.html?_r=0

Martinez-Alemán, A. M., and K. L. Wartman. 2008. Understanding Online Social Networking on Campus: Student Identity and
Culture. New York: Routledge/ Francis Taylor Group.
Merriam, S. B. 2008. Qualitative Research: A Guide to Design and Implementation. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Merton, R. 1957. Social Theory and Social Structure. New York: Free Press.
Muñoz, F. M., and K. C. Strotmeyer. 2010. “Demystifying Social Media.” Journal of Student Affairs Research and Practice 47
(1): 123–127. doi:10.2202/1949-6605.6132.
Nehls, K., and B. D. Smith. 2014.“The Role of Facebook in Fostering Transfer Student Integration.”Journal of Student Affairs
Research and Practice 51 (4): 392–406. doi:10.1515/jsarp-2014-0040.
Nov, O. 2007.“What Motivates Wikipedians?”Communications of the ACM 50 (11): 60–64.
Pascarella, E. T., and P. T. Terenzini. 1980. “Predicting Freshman Persistence and Voluntary Dropout Decisions from a
Theoretical Model.”The Journal of Higher Education 51: 60–75.
Pew Research Center. (2015). Social Media Update 2014. Accessed http://www.pewinternet.org/2015/01/09/social-media-
update-2014/.
Reitzes, D. 1981.“Role-Identity Correspondence in the College Student Role.”The Sociological Quarterly 22 (4): 607–620.
Russell, J., S. Nazione, and S. Smith. 2012.“An Initial Examination of Facebook as a Source of Memorable Messages for First-
Year College Students.”Journal of the First Year Experience Students in Transition 24 (2): 107–121.
Sandlin, J. K., and E.V. Peña. 2014. Building Authenticity in Social MediaTools to Recruit Postsecondary Students. Innovative
Higher Education 39 (4): 1–14. doi: 10.1007/s10755-014-9280-9.
Shields, N. 2002. “Anticipatory socialization, adjustment to university life, and perceived stress: Generational and sibling
effects.”Social Psychology of Education 5 (4): 365–392.
Stake, R. E. (1995). The Art of Case Study Research. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Strayhorn, T. 2012. College Students' Sense of Belonging: A Key to Educational Success for All Students. New York: Routledge.
Van Maanen, J., M. Miller, and J. C. Johnson. 1982. “An occupation in transition: Traditional and modern forms of fishing.”
Work and Occupations 9: 193–216.
Yang, C. C., and B. Brown. 2013. Motives for Using Facebook, Patterns of Facebook Activities, and Late Adolescents’Social
Adjustment to College. Journal of Youth and Adolescence 42: 403–416. doi: 10.1007/s10964-012-9836-x.

Facebook Transition to College

Recomendados

Recomendados

Mais conteúdo relacionado

Mais procurados

Mais procurados (18)

Destaque

Destaque (9)

Semelhante a Facebook Transition to College

Semelhante a Facebook Transition to College (20)

Facebook Transition to College