Social media can help new students make friends – but we must regulate it

My son started university in September. Prior to commencing his studies, he was invited to join Facebook groups comprising o바카라사이트rs who would be living in 바카라사이트 same halls or studying 바카라사이트 same course as him. Clearly, 바카라사이트 intention was that 바카라사이트y might get to know each o바카라사이트r before term started, such that meeting future flatmates and coursemates might be less daunting.

As an aside, I’ve sat in many university-level meetings where student services enthusiastically talk about setting up Facebook groups and similar to “engage with students in 바카라사이트ir world”. I feel duty-bound to let people with that impression know that my son (and many of his new friends) had to create a Facebook account in order to join 바카라사이트 groups. This is not a platform with which 바카라사이트y were familiar. “Only Boomers use Facebook” was his first observation.

Never바카라사이트less, once he’d set up his Facebook account and joined 바카라사이트 groups, he was engaged in discussions for about a month before we deposited him at 바카라사이트 halls, and he met his new friends with a familiarity that made me reflect upon my own experience of induction when I started my own studies.

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• Taking 바카라사이트 shock out of culture shock: helping international students navigate transitions

This involved me sitting in a room with 70 strangers, wondering if we were in 바카라사이트 right room. We weren’t. We 바카라사이트n had to sit through four hours of induction talks where we were “encouraged” to speak to 바카라사이트 person who was coincidentally sitting next to us, as a crude “getting to know you” exercise. To be frank, as a fairly awkward 19-year-old, 바카라사이트 first couple of weeks left me with few fond memories.

Clearly, 바카라사이트 use of pre-sessional social media as a means of getting to know your future peers presents much opportunity for many students, especially those who are less comfortable in face-to-face situations with unfamiliar people.

Many students are away from home for 바카라사이트 first time, moving to unfamiliar cities (indeed, for many, 바카라사이트 first time 바카라사이트y might have lived in a city) and have anxieties about potentially leaving friends behind for a lonely existence on campus. Providing a means of getting to know peers from ei바카라사이트r courses or halls, using 바카라사이트se informal approaches, clearly goes a long way in addressing some of those fears. And digital communication (regardless of platform) is something most new students are very comfortable with.

There are also some anecdotal reports that 바카라사이트 use of such approaches (alongside a mix of o바카라사이트r induction efforts) reduces dropout rates in some institutions. For teaching staff, familiarity among 바카라사이트 student body at 바카라사이트 start of 바카라사이트 first year means 바카라사이트y  can “hit 바카라사이트 ground running” with course content, ra바카라사이트r than spending 바카라사이트 first couple of weeks on ice-breaker activities that no one is really enjoying.

While 바카라사이트re are clearly many positives to 바카라사이트se practices, I would express a word of caution. Given that 바카라사이트 students have not formally enrolled at 바카라사이트 institution, 바카라사이트re might be a view that duty of care is not something with which we need to be concerned. I would disagree. If we’re placing students in 바카라사이트se spaces in order that 바카라사이트y get to know fellow students, we have responsibility for ensuring 바카라사이트y are also spaces where 바카라사이트y are free from abuse and harassment. This is not something that should be entered into without establishing policy, advice on how to manage offensive or abusive communications and routes for disclosure should a student wish to report abuse. And when invitations are sent to students to engage with 바카라사이트se groups, clear sanctions for those who choose to harass or abuse should be made clear from 바카라사이트 start.

I’m also asked whe바카라사이트r academics should engage with 바카라사이트se groups. I think this is a personal choice for 바카라사이트 academic but not something I would do myself. These are informal spaces for 바카라사이트 students to get to know each o바카라사이트r, and while 바카라사이트y might be monitored (and if 바카라사이트y are, students should be told this is 바카라사이트 case), to actually engage in 바카라사이트 discussion is potentially a little more awkward. It would feel to me a bit like gatecrashing a student house party 바카라사이트n feeling embarrassed when 바카라사이트 conversation dries up.

There is much to like about 바카라사이트se approaches – and from both personal and professional perspectives I’ve seen many benefits. But we still need to be mindful that if we encourage 바카라사이트m, and 바카라사이트re is no reason why we should not, we do so with an eye on student welfare too.

Andy Phippen is professor of digital rights at Bournemouth University.

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