Using the method of a formative experiment, this investigation examines how the use of peer revision and collaboration in an online environment, specifically a social network, could be implemented in a middle school classroom to increase revision over multiple drafts and improve the quality of student expository writing. Thirty-six students in two sections of a seventh-grade English language arts class participated in the study. Quantitative and qualitative data were collected prior to, during, and after the intervention to establish baseline data, as well as determine progress toward the pedagogical goal. Analyses reveal improvement in the amount of student revision and quality of student writing, as well as improved peer feedback using an online community for peer revision and collaboration. The enhancing and inhibiting effects of technology in this intervention is examined, as well as the unanticipated effects of the intervention.