The Benefits of Facebook Friends

cjs323Week 06

In the article “The Benefits of Facebook “Friends:” Social Capital and College Student’s Use of Online Social Network Sites,” Ellison et al. argues that “online social network sites may play a role different from that described in early literature” specifically noting that they “do not necessarily remove people from their offline world but may indeed be used to support relationships and keep people in contact, even when life changes move them away from each other.” This result was significant at the time as much of the literature assumed that users of social media sites would be socializing with other users who are not already in their offline social circles based on shared interests. While this still occurs, the results from Ellison et al show that various variables of Facebook use are correlated with or “implicated in students’ efforts to develop and maintain” different types of social capital.

One of the interesting results of the survey was the supported hypothesis that “students reporting low satisfaction and low self-esteem appeared to gain in bridging social capital if they used Facebook more intensely.” This result suggests that Facebook use may be helpful for students with low satisfaction and low self-esteem. This study was published in 2007, so it would be interesting to run this study today and examine the results. During my time as a Gryphon, I’ve often seen that students who are not satisfied with college life and may struggle with low self-esteem often find social media to be unhelpful. Many of my residents have reported feeling like they were missing out when seeing what their high school friends were doing, as well as feeling left out when seeing posts from college parties they may not have been invited to.

Facebook, and social media in general, has changed a lot since 2007. The article speaks at length about Facebook being “geographically bound,” but that is not the case anymore. If this study was conducted today, they might not see the same results. Specifically, the study concluded that there is evidence to suggest that users use social media to connect with existing friends (“the most commonly included information on users’ profiles was likely to be relevant for existing acquaintances trying to find them (e.g., their high school) and that nearly all users felt that their high school friends had viewed their profile, and through respondents’ self-reported types of use (connecting with offline contacts as opposed to meeting new people)”); however, few social media sites in 2022 have the same kind of geographical component as Facebook did in 2007.

This was not a main focus of the study, but the authors do touch on the issue of privacy. When they surveyed whether or not their participants had personalized their privacy settings on their Facebook accounts, “more than two thirds (70%) either did not know… or said that their profile was visible by the entire MSU network. Only 13% limited access only to their friends, while the rest blocked only certain individuals.” At the time, I would have been extremely concerned about these results. Internet privacy and safety is critical to maintain. Even in 2007, privacy was a big topic of discussion. It’s difficult to believe that 70% of participants in this study didn’t know or didn’t care. I wonder how these results would compare to today. Do people know or care about the privacy settings for their social media accounts?

26 thoughts on “The Benefits of Facebook Friends”

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