Facebook in Schools: Role, Trends, and School Counselors

Introduction

In 2008, Facebook outdistanced the previously more popular MySpace in terms of number of users to become the most widely used social network in the world. Although the top management of Facebook was facing a lawsuit for proprietary infringement at the time, the site was already generating impressive revenues. In fact, one of the founders of Facebook announced intentions to donate $100 million to the struggling Newark, New Jersey school district — a philanthropic gesture comparable in spirit to efforts by major educational foundations such as the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

Clearly, Facebook was having a major influence on the manner in which young people socialize and interact, and all signs indicated that this influence would continue to grow. It is therefore important for teachers, administrators, and school counselors to understand how social networking sites in general — and Facebook in particular, given its prominence — are being used by young people. In an effort to determine what the impact of this growing influence will be within schools, this paper reviews the relevant literature to develop an overview and background for Facebook, examines current and future trends with respect to its implications for schools, and analyzes why this is a "hot topic" for school counselors. A summary of the research and important findings is presented in the conclusion.

Background and Overview

The official Facebook factsheet reports that in less than a decade, Facebook emerged to become one of the most important resources in the world for hundreds of millions of young users. As stated in the factsheet, "Founded in February 2004, Facebook is a social utility that helps people communicate more efficiently with their friends, family and coworkers. The company develops technologies that facilitate the sharing of information through the social graph, the digital mapping of people's real-world social connections" (About Facebook, 2010, para. 1). Not surprisingly, this "digital mapping" was readily embraced by the so-called "digital natives" of the Millennial generation.

According to Bauman and Tatum (2009), "Social networking sites (SNS) such as Facebook and MySpace are now part of the social fabric of the lives of American teens and young adults. Although such sites only emerged in the past few years, they were rapidly embraced by large segments of the population" (p. 1). Likewise, Bowers-Campbell cites the results of a survey of college students and reports that "96% of students with online access reported using social networking technologies, and those online generally spent 9 hours per week chatting, text messaging, blogging, and visiting online communities" (2008, p. 74). One of the more interesting findings from that survey concerned what young people are actually doing in these social networking environments: "Perhaps even more surprising, the study found that 60% of social network users talked about schoolwork while online" (Bowers-Campbell, 2008, p. 74). The dominance of Facebook among competing platforms was also made clear: "Among college students with online access, Facebook reigns supreme across social networking sites reporting pervasive use among adolescents" (Bowers-Campbell, 2008, p. 75).

Facebook already had more than half a billion users who had visited the site within the past month alone (About Facebook, 2010), and its popularity showed no signs of slowing. Demski (2009) notes that "Web 2.0 applications like online communities, blogs, and wikis should not be thought of as just a passing fad or idle socializing, but as an activity that has embedded itself into the way work gets done" (p. 24). Significant changes in traditional socialization practices were also observable as more young people gathered in virtual communities to interact. As Conner (2009) points out, "Facebook is far more than a platform from which to express one's individuality. It also brings together people who have either never met or would not normally meet in daily circumstances" (p. 12).

References

About Facebook. (2010). Facebook Factsheet. Retrieved from

Bauman, S. & Tatum, T. (2009). Web sites for young children: Gateway to online social networking? Professional School Counseling, 13(1), 1–2.

Bowers-Campbell, J. (2008). Cyber 'pokes': Motivational antidote for developmental college readers. Journal of College Reading and Learning, 39(1), 74–75.

Choate, L. & Curry, J. R. (2009). Addressing the sexualization of girls through comprehensive programs, advocacy, and systemic change: Implications for professional school counselors. Professional School Counseling, 12(3), 213–214.

Conner, J. (2009). Facebook, the image and the virtual cedar bar. Afterimage, 37(2), 11–12.

Demski, J. (2009). Facebook training wheels: A secured social networking site allows schools to incorporate the technology into academics while preparing students for the perils of online communities. The Journal, 36(4), 24–25.

Feinberg, L. (2008, Summer). Facebook: Beyond Friends. Our Schools, Our Selves, 17(4), 75–76.

Sahba, A. (2010, September 24). Facebook founder to announce $100M donation. CNN International. Retrieved from http://edition.cnn.com/2010/TECH/social.media/09/24/facebook.donation/?hpt=Sbin.