Facebook at Diversity College

1. Facebook.com at Diversity College Hannah Brown Jenn Christ Gwen Schimek Sara Sheikh Advisor: Dave McKelfresh Colorado State University

2. Diversity College: Overview of Issues Why is this presentation important? Based on recent negative events taking place on campus regarding the use of Facebook.com, we, as an institution, need to focus on ways to ensure our students’ safety and create a welcoming physical and online community. Many students are unaware of current safety issues and appropriate conduct and have no formal way of learning about them. We also recognize that students need to be able to take responsibility to promote and maintain this environment. It is our duty to promote citizenship and integrity within our students. If we are slowly becoming a global institution, we need to decide what messages we want to send about our school and students’ reputation. We also need to determine the universities responsibilities associated with one’s right to privacy and duties to do no harm. While it is impossible not to address online communities with the vast number of students who are using this technology, we find we can offer educational sessions that can help develop student awareness and strong decision making skills.

3. Diversity College: Facebook.com Proposal In order to provide basic information regarding Facebook.com, we developed a student presentation and tutorial for our students. As a campus that carries on traditions, we must also start new ones when our institution is faced with a new challenge—like the increasing use of Facebook.com. In choosing to address this information, we found timing to be highly important. Wanting to address students upon their arrival to this higher education institution, we have determined orientation and signing in to the computer system as being two times where we can easily access students to share information. In approximately 90 minutes, we hope to provide helpful hints, tips, and the advantages and disadvantages of utilizing such online communities. Recognizing the diverse needs of students regarding learning, we are choosing to provide this information orally, visually, and in written format while utilizing as much technology as possible. In creating an atmosphere demonstrating both wide numbers of students and administrators dedicated to this topic on our campus, representatives from Information Technology, the Division of Student Affairs, police, a local business, and the student body will address this issue on a panel during orientation. It is our hope that with this information, events such as what happened last spring will not continue to happen on Diversity College’s campus.

4. Facebook.com Proposed Actions • Orientation Session • In August as students register for classes and get acquainted with the university • Online Tutorial • Launched when a student logs onto the campus network for the first time

5. ORIENTATION Orientation Session Guidelines: • 1 hour and 10 minutes • Comprised of only students (no parents) • Required for all students who go through Orientation

6. Outline of the Orientation Session • Purpose and overview of the session (3 minutes) • Icebreaker small group discussion about Facebook (8-10 minutes) • Bring discussion back to the larger group to transition to the informational part of the presentation (5 minutes) • What is Facebook and what can you do with it? (8-10 minutes) • Panel Discussion and Q&A (25 minutes) • Benefits of Facebook (5 minutes) • Challenges of Facebook (5 minutes) • Safety Tips (5 minutes) • Closing reflection (3 minutes)

7. Let’s Talk about Facebook.com Presented by: Student Affairs and DCPD at Diversity College Orientation

8. Let’s Talk about Facebook.com • Overview of Session • Brief introduction to Facebook.com • Purpose of this session • Why does Diversity College only focus on Facebook.com?

9. Small group discussion questions: • What have you heard about Facebook.com? • Are you interested in becoming a part of Facebook.com? Why or why not? • How many of you are on the high school Facebook.com? What have been your experiences with it?

10. Let’s discuss as a large group!

11. Quick Facts about Facebook.com • Facebook.com advertises itself as “an online directory that connects people through social networks at schools.” • There are two Facebook.com sites; one for college students, and one for high school students • Facebook.com does not exist for all schools; however, they are “working on it” • You can use Facebook.com to: • Look up people at your school • See how people know each other • Find people in your classes and groups

12. Personal Profile Groups Messages Photos Events Pulse Search Function Birthday Reminders Friends Pages Poke Option Wall Postings Privacy Settings Elements of Facebook.com

13. Why Join? • Create your own profile and continually update it as you get more involved with campus life • Search for other students and stay connected with one another • Find and stay in contact with old friends • Stay informed about and/or advertise events and other happenings • Make new friends • Join groups with people of similar interests • Be a part of a virtual community

14. Panel Discussion • Panelists: • Student Affairs Practitioner • Information Technician • DC Police Officer • Local Employer • 2 Students • Sharing experiences with Facebook.com • Are you on Facebook.com? Why or why not? • What advice do you have for new students? • Q&A for the panelists

15. Benefits of Facebook.com • Engage freely, quickly, and easily • Post pictures/photo albums • Get help with homework and meet people in classes • Stay connected with advertising and messaging • Provide your contact information for others to view • Build a social network • Have fun

16. Unwanted solicitation from marketers who buy your name from Facebook.com Privacy settings Stalking Harassment Surveillance Distraction Procrastination Creates a venue to violate policies or laws Inappropriate groups Decreased involvement and interpersonal social contact Inaccurate information Identity theft False sense of security Issues Related to Facebook.com

17. When you arrive on campus: Tutorial Session You will be asked to go through a 20-30 minute tutorial focusing on Facebook.com the first time you sign onto an on-campus computer.

18. Closing Thoughts • Think before you post! • What do you want everyone to know? • How will you act to protect your personal identity? • How can you be proactive about your personal online safety? • If you have any questions, please contact: • DCPD 555-5911 • Information Technology Department 555-1234 • Dean of Student Life 555-DOSL • Counseling Center 555-6789

19. Questions about the Orientation Presentation?

20. TUTORIAL Tutorial Session Guidelines: • Must be completed before using Diversity College’s computer system • It should take 20-30 minutes to complete • Students must receive a “B” (8/10 correct answers) on the quiz at the end in order to pass Information about the Tutorial: • Slides will be completed in order, and will not advance until all links are activated • Each quiz question will be asked on its own screen and will have bulleted form answer options • Score of quiz will be the final screen after quiz is completed • All scores will be sent to a central database to be used for future assessment • An email address will be provided to which questions and feedback can be sent

21. Welcome to Diversity College The following tutorial has been created to help you continue to be safe at our institution. It has been designed to introduce you to some online methods of getting to know the Diversity College community.

22. Getting to know online communities • There are two most commonly used online communities: • Facebook.com • Myspace.com • College students and high school students across the country are utilizing these newly-created online communities. • This tutorial will introduce you to Facebook.com and Myspace.com and share some ways to be members of Diversity College community, yet continue to remain safe. • There will be a short quiz at the end. After finishing the quiz (and answering 80% of the questions correctly), you will be able to use the Internet and access your email account.

23. Did you know? • 42% of college students say they use the Internet primarily to communicate socially • Only 10% of college students use the Internet primarily for entertainment • Nearly three-fourths (72%) of college students say most of their online communication is with friends • Over two-thirds (69%) of college students said they are more likely to use the phone than the Internet to communicate socially • College students are frequently checking their email, with 72% checking email at least once a day • 85% of college students own their own computer, and 66% use at least two email addresses

24. How can you join the online world? Facebook.com or Myspace.com

25. Both Myspace.com and Facebook.com offer online communities allowing you to create your own web page and meet other people. However, there are a few distinguishing characteristics between the two. Differences between Facebook.com and Myspace.com • Myspace.com • Can search for individuals based on a physical description • There are several surveys you can fill out to share information about yourself • Other users can rank you based on their impressions • Facebook.com • Must have an email account with a college that has subscribed to Facebook.com to access • Connects students through courses, clubs, and similar interests • Allows you to post photos to capture your college memories

26. Why DC focuses on Facebook.com The remainder of this tutorial will focus on Facebook.com for several reasons: • There is limited access to Facebook.com, since only individuals who have a “.edu” or college/university-affiliated e-mail address can join. • You can get help on homework from others in your classes. In addition, through Facebook.com, you can make study groups, contact your TA, borrow notes, or ask a question about a discussion that happened in class. • You can find friends from high school. You can reconnect with your old teammate or stay in contact with your best friend who is attending school hours away! • You can advertise for different events you have going on with your club or student organization. Rather than paying to advertise in other places on-campus, you can send out an invite to the entire school. • You can make friends. Find people who have similar interests or individuals in your hall who are also addicted to Dawson’s Creek reruns every morning.

27. Basics about Facebook.com • In September 2005, Facebook.com launched a service for high school students • It typically attracts 80% of a school’s undergraduate population • 60% of Facebook.com members log in daily, and 85% log in weekly • Introduced by three sophomores at Harvard in 2004 • As of Fall 2005, the number of registered members is estimated at 3.1 million at over 800 institutions • 5,800 new members being added per day

28. Creating your Facebook.com Profile You can choose any information you wish to include on your Facebook.com page. However, when filling out the basic form, there is some standard information you are asked to share. You do not have to include any information you do not wish to share. Most students share at least some of the following information: • name • address • phone numbers • hobbies • class schedules • list of friends • groups • interests

29. Being safe on Facebook.com • Placing your address and cell phone numbers – NOT a good idea! • Potential employers are checking you out before calling you for an interview! Will they like what they see? • Change your settings so that not everyone can read every piece of information. Facebook.com’s default setting is “ALL PUBLIC” • Charges can be filed against you based on your Facebook.com profile • “Personal information makes you become an easy target.”Officer McConnell from Diversity College • Women and men could be stalked either by a “friend” or by a person who could show up at your place of residence (based on the information in your profile) • Identity theft • Click to read a recent television report

30. By choosing not to add some identification elements and changing your access rights, you can be safer. Chris Hughes, co-founder of Facebook.com, said: “We’re confident that our members are intelligent enough not to give out any personal information that they don’t want to be public.”

31. Creating your profile can be fun!

32. Challenges you might need to overcome when using Facebook.com… • Tempting distraction from school work and can be used as a procrastination tool • Decreases genuine human interaction • Easy to get addicted and obsessed • Fake and forgotten relationships • Identity theft through personal information listed • Anyone can view your profile, we often forget that virtually anyone has access to view Facebook.com profiles • Potentially a stalker’s paradise • Pictures of drinking • Falling GPAs • Could come back to haunt you

33. Facebook.com profiles may contribute to and affect: • Community responsibilities and respect • Self-representation and interpretation • Relationships with others • Roommate conflicts • Personal embarrassment • Worry and anxiety • Violating campus policies and state/federal laws • Threatening or dangerous situations • Candidacy for on-campus positions • Employers’ opinion of you as a potential employee

34. Keep in mind the “reality” of relationships… • Sarcasm – How often do things seem different when they are said rather than read? Writing something your friends know is a joke rather than something the general public will know is a joke are two very different things. When you are writing your profile, make sure to consider who you are as a person and what implications are associated with the words you’ve shared. • Judging – People can quickly decide that you are only the information that is in your profile. However, if you were to write every piece of information that was important to know about you, your profile would be 10 pages long! Make sure when you read other people’s profiles, you know this is just the basics about them, not everything there is to know!

35. “I am addicted to facebook!” While there are a lot of positive measures associated with Facebook.com, there are also a lot of things to be concerned about. One thing that you want to be aware of is Facebook.com addiction. A UCLA student shared: “I use it before I go to class, after class, and sometimes even during class if I get a text message informing me that I’ve been the victim of a poking incident.” Being online all of the time can affect things like your GPA. Don’t spend your life on Facebook.com, utilize it to stay in touch with friends, and not as your only method of knowing people.

36. QUIZ • TRUE or FALSE: • Facebook.com is a university sponsored virtual community. • You can edit your privacy settings on Facebook.com. • You can make contact with people you have not spoken with in person via Facebook.com. • It is safe to put your class schedule on your profile. • There is a Facebook.com for high school students. • MULTIPLE CHOICE: • Which is not a challenge to overcome when using Facebook.com? • Conveying clear messages • Becoming addicted • Lowering your GPA • None of the above • Of the following, which is not a good idea to include in your Facebook.com profile? • Your favorite movie • Your cell phone number • A photo of you and your pet • Clubs you belong to on-campus

37. QUIZ (cont’d) • Of the following photo descriptions, which is not a good idea to have on your profile? • A childhood photo • A photo while on a family vacation • A photo engaging in illegal activity • A photo of your favorite celebrity • Which of the following is not an option to post on your Facebook.com profile? • Your address • Your class schedule • Home video • Your interests • Who can potentially look at your profile? • Your family • Faculty and other Diversity College administrators • Future employers • All of the above

38. QUIZ (cont’d) SURVEY QUESTION: Do you intend to register for Facebook.com? • Yes • No • Maybe

39. Feedback on the Tutorial

40. Planning the Orientation and Tutorial Session Things to keep in mind: • Additional methods to further awareness about online issues and safety • Assessing the program outcomes of the Orientation and Tutorial • Faculty and staff implications when using Facebook.com • Budget

41. Diversity College: Initiatives and Assessment Ways to further awareness about Facebook.com issues: • Gain multiple perspectives before launching the program • Coordinate a Facebook.com safety program during safety week • Place advertisements in the school newspaper about Facebook.com safety • Design and display informational bulletin boards in residence halls and the student union Ways to assess our initiatives: • Administer orientation evaluations for the session • Assess student sign up rates on Facebook.com • Run evaluative samples of randomly selected student profiles by looking at what tips from the tutorial and orientation session they follow • Re-conduct the exam in October to see if the percentage of questions correct increases, decreases, or remains constant • Survey students’ opinions in November on safety and satisfaction with Facebook.com • Check in with current students and local employers in January about their experiences with Facebook.com through focus groups • Gage the campus environment throughout the year for other judiciary incidences related to online communities

42. Diversity College: Facebook.com Initiatives Assessment • These programs need to be revisited and reassessed at least once each semester. • In an effort to stay current with these technologies, we, as a Division, need to be aware of the technologies our students are utilizing and inform the task force. • Until students no longer participate in these technologies, we must continue to be proactive about providing information through presentations and other outreach activities.

43. Diversity College: Using Facebook.com: Challenges and Benefits for Faculty and Staff Faculty and staff should keep in mind and seek understanding of the: • Purpose of Facebook.com • Function and uses of Facebook.com • Benefits and costs for students use • Benefits and costs of utilizing Facebook.com as a faculty or staff member • Faculty and staff can use it to work with students, clubs, and organizations they advise • Facebook.com can help faculty and staff members maintain relationships with students • Faculty and staff can utilize Facebook.com to keep a pulse on campus life • Students may not understand why faculty and staff sign onto Facebook.com. Students may feel the faculty and staff are spying on them, or they are friends with which they can share anything, thereby discrediting their professionalism • Students can put anything on their profile and may be personally offensive to faculty or staff members • Faculty and staff should be aware that their postings may affect their future employment and tenure • Faculty and staff have the responsibility to share with students that they are viewing their profiles • Signing up for Facebook.com allows students to search and find them

44. Diversity College: Using Facebook.com: Challenges and Benefits for Faculty and Staff Judicial implications found within student Facebook.com profiles • How can this information be used legally? • What are the consequences of the students who post illegal actions? • What can be done with the information found on Facebook.com? • Is there a responsibility to “police” Facebook.com to see what students are doing? • What happens when students report other students, using Facebook.com pages as evidence, especially in regard to Greek or Residence Hall Conduct Boards? • Do Facebook.com profiles demonstrate student behavior (i.e. when a student comes for a judicial hearing, should Facebook.com interests be considered?)

45. Diversity College: Proposed Budget Estimations • Tutorial design and launch - $500 (including technician employment time cost) • Orientation session - $250 • In-house technician, rental fees, energy, and handouts - $200 • Employment time cost - $50 • Taskforce employment time cost - $450 (time cost taken from day-to-day job functions)

46. Research and Lessons Learned • The entire process of exploring the needs of our community and the benefits Facebook.com has to offer has been enlightening, for example: • Issues identified were not previously known or discussed collaboratively • Common needs of and services for students across many departments were learned • Virtual communities can ease students’ transitions into college • Facebook.com sells its members names and contact information to marketers

47. Additional Questions?

48. References and Resources Arrington, M. (2005 September 7). "85% of college students use facebook.“ TechCrunch. Retrieved 19 February 2006 from http://www.techcrunch.com/2005/09/07/85-of-college-students-use-facebook/ Association for Student Judicial Affairs (2005). Retrieved February 2006 from http://asja.tamu.edu/. Barratt, W., Hendrickson, M., Stephens, A. & Torres, J. (2005). Thefacebook.com: Computer mediated social networking. Student affairs online. 6(1). Retrieved 4 February 2006 from http://www.studentaffairs.com/ejournal/Winter_2005/thefacebook.html Bugeja, M.J. (27 January 2006). Facing the facebook: Unless we reassess our high-tech priorities, issues of student insensitivity, indiscretion, and fabrication will consume us. The chronicle of higher education. Retrieved 4 February 2006 from http://chronicle.com/weekly/v52/i21/21c00101.htm Byrne, J. (12 December 2005). The MySpace generation. Business Week. Christy, L. & Schmidt, A. (2005). How this relates 2u. Paperclip communications. Retrieved 6 February 2006 from http://www.paper-clip.com Facebook. (2006). "Welcome to facebook." Retrieved 12 February 2006 from http://www.facebook.com Hicks, R. (February 2006). facebook.com myspace.com. Presentation to Conflict Resolution and Student Conduct Services staff at Colorado State University. Hurst, K. (2005, February 16). "Warning: You too could be addicted to facebook." Daily Bruin. Retrieved 12 February 2006 from http://www.dailybruin.ucla.edu/news/articles.asp?ID=32031 Mesloh, C, Thompson, F. & Laden, M. (January/February 2006). Virtual fun with real-world consequences. Campus safety magazine. Myspace. (2006). "Myspace: A place for friends." Retrieved 12 February 2006 from http://www.myspace.com Read, B. (20 January 2006). Think before you share: Students' online socializing can have unintended consequences. Chronicle of higher education. Retrieved 4 February 2006 from http://chronicle.com/weekly/v52/i20/20a03801.htm Read, B. (2004 May 28). Have you 'facebooked' him? The chronicle of higher education. Retrieved 6 February 2006 from http://chronicle.com/weekly/v50/i38/38a02901.htm