Washington Week: Student Voices (O)

Facebook: A tool for college-life questions
By Sam Guzik
The Student Life (Washington U.)
08/01/2007

(U-WIRE) ST. LOUIS, Mo. — Before the Class of 2011 freshmen arrive on campus in August, they will have spent the summer receiving hundreds of University mailings, purchasing thousands of dollars worth of dorm supplies and pondering every detail of college life.

And they will have made scores of friends without ever leaving their homes.

This year, more than any in the past, incoming freshmen have taken advantage of Facebook to meet their classmates before setting foot on campus.

"Facebook lets you meet a lot of people and you feel more comfortable going into school," said Perri Feinsilber, an incoming freshman from New York. "I can't imagine what people did before [Facebook]."

He admits, however, that Facebook cannot replace meeting people in person.

"You can't just judge people by what's on their profile — you need to meet them," he said. "But, without knowing anything else, Facebook is a good start for a friendship."

This year's incoming freshman class is the first to have made extensive use of Facebook while still in high school. As a result, even before joining the University network, many students have already made hundreds of friends.

At least three freshman Facebook groups have been created, the largest of which has a membership of more than 900 members. Additionally, in some major cities including New York and Chicago, groups of students have met under events publicized using Facebook.

The groups for admitted students first began to appear after the first round of early decision applicants received their admissions notifications in December. They continued to grow when regular decision students were notified in April.

"Once I got into college, being on the Facebook groups was one of the first things I could do to make it feel like I was a part of the campus," said Lucas Olivieri, an incoming freshman from Milwaukee, and the creator of the three largest groups.

Olivieri explained that the groups' discussion boards allow admitted students to begin interacting with others from anywhere in the world. Topics of discussion on these boards range from the practical questions about college life — the best bank to use in St. Louis, what type of computer to buy, how to log in to WebSTAC — to attempt to network and find friends with common interests — Anyone interested in starting a band? Going backpacking? Playing soccer? Some discussion topics organized by location introduced students from the same town, state, and, in the case of two students from Africa, continent.

The ability to help facilitate community building is part of what has drawn the Office of Orientation to endorse one of the Class of 2011 groups and to use Facebook as a tool to answer student questions.

"Most people are worried about making friends [before coming to school], but Facebook has changed that," said Jeff Nelson, a sophomore and member of the Orientation Executive Board who has worked extensively with Facebook. "I think they're able to focus on things like academics and what the social life will be like."

Since the creation of these groups, Nelson has worked to have a presence in the group "WashU '11" to answer student questions and distribute information from the Office of Orientation.

"I think it's helpful that there's an upperclassman on their WashU '11 site to answer questions and dispel the myths," said Danielle Bristow, director of Orientation and Parents' Weekend. "[Sending Facebook messages] is something we use sparingly, but it has been helpful."

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