How to Meet New People, Make Friends and Facebook Them

"Facebook.com has become our social bible for definitive information on our classmates, crushes, and high school peers we have not spoken to in who-knows-how long." Withall



I read a manuscript that Pavica Sheldon wrote in 2007 for the Southwest Symposium of the Southwest Education Council for Journalism and Mass Communication that detailed the motives for using Facebook.com. It was based on a study of 172 students at Louisiana State University for her doctorial dissertation. The study built on the foundation that one's demographic was a key motivating factor in why one uses Facebook As a parent of four children I try to be as tech-savvy as I can be. I created a Facebook.com account in New Years Day 2009. In the year I've had the account, I've "farmed" all I ever need to, I've reconnected with old friends, kept in touch with current ones, denied people who saw my picture and wanted to be my friend without knowing me, found out my husband was a girl in a play in college and made the decision that my fifteen year old son would not be allowed to be my Facebook "friend". I fall in line with the majority of women who flock to Facebook.com. Women are more likely to go to Facebook to maintain existing relationships, pass time and be entertained. My husband became a Facebook.com member after months of me complaining that at least fifty of my “friends”, were people who were looking to connect with him. He tends to use Facebook for the same reasons I do, however according to Ms. Sheldon's study, men tend to go to Facebook to develop new relationships or meet new people. (In this case our age demographic no doubt, skewed the data!)

In the manuscript, Ms. Sheldon suggested that the Uses and Gratifications Theory which is a theory from 1959 that suggests that people differ in the gratifications they seek from mass media is especially applicable. The needs seem to fall into certain categories: diversion, personal relationship, personal identity, surveillance and media exposure. What the theory fails to include is the interpersonal dynamic that I am guilty of; people will "post" something electronically that they may not say to someone face-to face. I find it particularly important to ensure that my kids understand that their "online identity" needs to be in-line with their "personal identity", but to also understand in equal measure that not everyone else's is. Being true to one’s self is difficult enough without the component of social media, the ability to hide behind an online medium is as much of an attraction as a danger. Facebook and other social media sites are the standard in communication now for the school-age and college-age set. It's important to know why people approach it the way they do and just what they expect to get out of it.

Sheldon, P. (2007) Student Favorite: Facebook and Motives For Its Use, Southwest Symposium of the Southwest Education Council for Journalism and Mass Communication

Withall, R. (18 November 2005). Facing the Facts about Facebook. The Villanovan

Kori DeLeon