Facebook groups for college courses can bring students closer together by providing a judgement-free space to ask questions, connecting students with similar academic interests, and creating an online community where crowdsourcing helps students achieve their goals. The author analyzes their experience in such Facebook groups through the lens of the Social Information Processing Theory, noting that relationships form over time as uncertainty is reduced without nonverbal cues. Studies show these student-managed groups more effectively support peer learning compared to institutional learning management systems. While context collapse is a risk, privacy settings can mitigate it, and overall Facebook groups hold potential academic benefits for students.

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Do Facebook Groups Serve its Purpose and Bring Individuals Closer Together?
Trenten Cummings
December 5th, 2018
Introduction to CMC- COMM 3119
Professor Youngrak Park

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Do Facebook groups really serve its purpose and bring individuals closer together? I plan
to answer this question introspectively from my own use of Facebook groups, and look at my
analysis through the scope of the Social Information Processing Theory (SIPT) as well as a few
more computer-mediated communication concepts. From my own experience, I believe
Facebook groups bring individuals closer together by providing a judgement-free zone for people
in the group, by effectively pairing individuals with similar interests, and by creating an online
community where people help each other successfully achieve their goals. For my thesis to be as
effective as possible, I will focus on just one type of Facebook group, and it is a type of group
that I am involved in myself. The type of Facebook group I am referencing is for college courses,
which is essentially Facebook groups that are intended to assist students in various college
courses from fellow classmates or anyone who has experienced that course as well. I chose this
topic because the different possibilities that Facebook groups can provide to its millions of daily
users is one that deserves to be explored. “Social networking sites, in particular Facebook, are
not only predominant in students' social life but are to varying degrees interwoven with the
medical curriculum. Particularly, Facebook groups have been identified for their potential in
higher education,” (Nicolai, L. et al., 2017).
I chose to explore this matter through the scope of the Social Information Processing
Theory because the discoveries found within this theory transpires in the Facebook group I’m
choosing to focus on. The Social Information Processing Theory is, “a theory positing that
humans use information to reduce uncertainty in order to forge relationships, and that the
medium they use can subsequently impact how those relationships form. But they can and do
form,” (Westerman, Bowman, Lachlan, 2017, p. 136). Another thing to note about this theory is
that it takes more time to develop than face-to-face interaction would. The internet is a very

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tricky place, so with research and more information, you begin to develop a safety net for
yourself and you become less worried about what could go wrong from online interactions. “The
theory focuses on how communicators adapt to the absence of nonverbal cues when using a
medium that is generally restricted to textual symbols. The theory stipulates that the information
processing of such code systems requires more time than face‐to‐face communication in order to
achieve similar levels of interpersonal development,” (Walther, B., 2015). Doing this would take
more time as discussed because the different possibilities are a lot more spread when dealing
with online than dealing face to face would. From my experience, in the college course groups,
people may be weary of advice or assistance from someone they may not know. There
information could be outdated, their knowledge could be rusty, or they could just be completely
lying. Therefore, now you spend time fact checking what their saying which is taking up more
time than if you had a face to face tutor. However, as the Social Information Processing Theory
would state, these relationships can and do form, but with time. In addition, in some instances
after those relationships do form, they can become more beneficial and bring us closer together
than some face-to-face ones do.
The sources I decided to use to support my arguments offer concrete evidence as well as
anecdotal summaries that will cement my thesis in more ways than a few. The first source I am
utilizing will be a textbook titled, “Introduction to Mediated Communication: Social Media and
Beyond,” by David Westerman, Nicholas D. Bowman, Kenneth A. Lachlan. This source will
assist me in finding insightful concepts and theories within CMC that will serve as answering the
question, “why?” or “how?” to many of my findings. Another source I will be using is
“Facebook Groups as a Powerful and Dynamic Tool in Medical Education: Mixed-Method
Study,” by Leo Nicolai and many more authors who attended Ludwig-Maximilians-University. I

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will be using this source, as it really emphasizes the point that Facebook groups are a very useful
tool for students and can create a productive space for students, which will bring them closer
together. Although the focus was on medical education, the data obtained from their research is
still credible and applicable to different types of academic based Facebook groups. Another
source I will be using to support my thesis is, “Students’ educational use of Facebook groups,”
by Christian Dalsgaard. I am using this source because he conducted a study and it drives home
the point that these student-managed Facebook groups are effective in pairing peers with similar
interests in problem solving on assignments and all-around assistance with academics. My
second to last source used is by Joseph B. Walther to further explain the essence of time
associated with the Social Information Processing Theory. It is important to note that Facebook
groups like the one I am studying really do require time when face-to-face interaction is not an
option. The last and final source I am using to help support my findings is titled, “Academic Use
of a Group on Facebook: Initial Findings and Perceptions.” I used this because the expertise from
an actual professor appreciating and vouching for the power that is Facebook groups in relation
to academia is key and her insight solidified my conclusion even more.
Facebook groups, in particular the college course assistance groups, provide a judgement-
free zone for people involved in the group. From my online experience from being in groups like
this, I know that a judgment-free zone is very much present. Students make posts asking
questions about certain assignments or even make posts about advice for presentations as well as
preparation for exams. Nobody ever says, “that’s a stupid question” or “the answer is super
obvious” or anything of that nature. People are genuinely help the best way they know how,
without being condescending or mean about it. This would encourage that person as well as even
more people to continue to make more posts asking questions without fear of being judged or

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being thought of as stupid or ignorant, which brings people closer together. However, as with
anything else, outsiders can infiltrate and information intended for one group will somehow
reach more people that it should not have reached, and people outside the group may not be as
forgiving when it comes to answering those questions. In CMC, this is known as a context
collapse. In order to combat this issue, the Facebook groups would change the settings, to where
you have to be approved to be in the group before joining as opposed to just joining without any
type of pre-screening.
Facebook groups also effectively pair individuals with similar interests, and for students
in these college course Facebook groups, they all share the interest of one thing, which is clarity.
We have all had that homework assignment or quiz question that has left us stumped and
frustrated, leaving us desperate for an answer so that we can move on. Sometimes we cannot get
the exact kind of help needed from professors because they want to help, but they also do not
want to give you the answer in the process. With Facebook groups, I have personally seen people
spend hours, sometimes days trying to solve a problem on an assignment like trying to figure out
a code, or how to solve a math problem, or how simply trying to brainstorm their ideas for their
essay. With these groups, I have seen many people become alleviated from getting assistance
without even asking because a peer with the same issue has already sought after help. You would
not have to go searching beyond your means for help because a peer with the same interest in
solving the problem has done the hard part for you, now you can connect with that peer and
possibly become study partners, which brings you closer together. As I mentioned before,
sometimes professors can’t help in capacity necessary, so these student-ran Facebook groups
become more effective with helping students than learning management systems (LMSs) such as
Cougar View, which is riddled with professors. In the study conducted by Christian Dalsgaard,

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he tests the Facebook groups ran by students against LMSs. “The results of the study show that
whereas LMSs were seen by students primarily as institutional systems of the teacher, Facebook
groups have an educational potential to be used by students for peer-to-peer learning,”
(Dalsgaard, C., 2016).
Another way Facebook groups has brought us closer together, is that they create an
online community where people help each other successfully achieve their goals. These student-
managed groups have so much more potential than to only be used for academic related
questions. Students can use it to ask about internships, or how to snag their dream job, or tips to
improve their health, or just simply to network. The possibilities are truly limitless. This is done
through crowdsourcing which is another CMC concept that deals with “using larger groups of
people—usually through social media technologies—in order to gather information on a given
topic,” (Westerman et al., 2017). Crowdsourcing is a simple but effective way to enhance online
communities such as the student-run Facebook groups because it helps tap into the crowd and
promote interaction and participation. This brings us back to the point of the Social Information
Processing Theory because the interactions do come, but it takes time; time is important to
remember when thinking of this theory. Nevertheless, when crowdsourcing, you must determine
your goal. Is it to interact with hundreds of people or is it just to connect with two or a few
people and form an interpersonal communication relationship? With the Facebook groups
created for college courses assistance, I have seen some posts reach 100 comments because they
asked a question that was somewhat widespread and required the attention of the masses in the
group, which is an example of crowdsourcing in this instance. Whether intentional or
unintentional, it brings people closer together undoubtedly.

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In conclusion, do Facebook groups bring us closer together? From personal observation, I
can concur that they definitely do. I am involved in many Facebook groups and many of them
serve different purposes. There may be groups that are for purchasing goods, or groups that are
meant for survivors of traumatic life events, and so much more. However, they produce the same
results. Facebook groups bring individuals closer together by providing a judgement-free zone
for people in the group, by effectively pairing individuals with similar interests, and by creating
an online community where people help each other successfully achieve their goals. I studied the
true impact that Facebook groups have on groups designated specifically for college courses
assistance by experiencing the effects firsthand and interacting with others in the group as well
as observing interpersonal interaction amongst other members in the group. “Social networking
sites, especially Facebook, are an integral part of the lifestyle of contemporary youth. Usage is
mainly for social purposes, but the group- and discussion facilities of Facebook hold potential for
focused academic use,” (Villers, R., 2010). If there are students who are in a course that they
particularly find challenging, I highly recommend joining a Facebook group or creating their
own group because it is extremely helpful. However, along with that advice, I would also warn
them to have patience because it takes time. That is what the Social Information Processing
Theory explains. It does not even have to be about you having trouble in a course. You could
need help networking, or finding out what school club is best for you, and so much more. That is
the beauty of what Facebook groups can offer. At the end of the day, we become closer because
of it.

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References
 Westerman D., Bowman N., Lachlan K. (2017). Introduction to Mediated
Communication: Social Media and Beyond. Kendall Hunt Pub Co, 2017.
 Nicolai, L., Schmidbauer, M., Gradel, M., Ferch, S., Antón, S., Hoppe, B., Dimitriadis,
K. (2017). Facebook Groups as a Powerful and Dynamic Tool in Medical Education:
Mixed-Method Study. Journal Of Medical Internet Research, 19(12), e408.
 Dalsgaard, C. (2016). Students’ educational use of Facebook groups. Educational Media
International, 53(4), 261–273.
 Villers, R. (2010). Academic Use of a Group on Facebook: Initial Findings and
Perceptions.
 Walther, J. B. (2015). Social Information Processing Theory (CMC). In The International
Encyclopedia of Interpersonal Communication.