Home is Where the Heart is: Facebook and the Negotiation of “Old” and “New” During the Transition to College

Abstract

This study adopts a dialectical perspective to explore how students transitioning to college communicatively negotiate the web of old and new relationships in the age of Facebook. Interpretive thematic analysis of 30 interviews revealed three discursive struggles: preservation and (re)invention, uniqueness and conformity, and openness and closedness. With time and space no longer inhibiting a connection to all the people in our relational lives, college students must make sense of the possibility for new senses of self when connected to ''home'' in a way previous generations never experienced. The contradictions present in the participants' voices illuminate the ways in which wider cultural discourses that construct college as a time of separation and independence enable and constrain students' understandings of their own emerging adulthood.

Social Media, Friendship, and Happiness in the Millennial Generation

“…This life period often involves experimenting with different career opportunities, living environments, and relationships prior to settling down into an adult life. Facebook allows young people to maintain attachment to family, friends, and other former support communities while they embrace the experimentation and mobility appropriate to their age in post-modern societies (Ellison et al 2007;Stephenson-Abetz and Holman 2012). Emerging adults can move to new cities or backpack through Europe all while preserving digital ties that require relatively little maintenance but are conveniently just a click away.…”

Social Media as More Than a Peer Space: College Freshmen Encountering Parents on Facebook

“…Given that different groups usually hold different standards regarding what a good self-presentation should look like, it can be effortful to create a performance meaningful and appropriate to the multiple audiences. For instance, when college students negotiate the new and old selves across the transition from high school to college and engage in impression management on Facebook, they find it difficult to leave everything behind and reinvent a new identity due to the old connections maintained via Facebook (Stephenson-Abetz & Holman, 2012). At the end, individuals may reduce their posts to the safest content that does not offend even the most demanding audience members (Marwick & boyd, 2011), which can lead to the presentation of a selective and incomplete image (Gardner & Davis, 2013; Walther, 1996).…”

Understanding Anticipatory Socialization for New Student Affairs Professionals

“…Facebook facilitates connections with new acquaintances and enhances offline social activity (Young, 2011). Its use contributes to individuals' sense of community during early entry (Stephenson-Abetz & Holman, 2012). While social media was not a focus of this study, there were clear indications of its role in the socialization process.…”