Social Networking Web Sites as a Tool for Student Transitions: Purposive Use of Social Networking Web Sites for the First-Year Experience

The current study investigated the potential role that social networking Web sites (e.g., Facebook) played in creating both actual and virtual learning communities within the first-year seminar. Researchers conducted a 2-year longitudinal study to assess whether students who were connected within a university-founded virtual network persisted in greater numbers, transitioned more smoothly, and rated overall university satisfaction higher than those in a control group. Results indicated that Facebook led to small, but significant, changes in students' desire to work with others, adjustment to college, and satisfaction with their institutions. Administrative uses for social networking in student transitions, persistence, and satisfaction are also proposed.