This is the PowerPoint from a presentation given at the joint conference of the American College Personnel Association and the National Association of Student Personnel Administrators. The presentation was given by Elizabeth Barnett and Molly Kinne, both employees of Ohio University at the time of the presentation.

1. Online Communities Emerge
A Student Affairs Response
Molly S. Kinne
Elizabeth J. Barnett

2. Introduction to Online
Communities
 Sixdegrees.com
 Six Degrees was developed in 1997
 1st Online community
 Friendster
 Created in 2002
 Open to anyone
 Post photos and review music, movies etc
 My Space
 Created in 2003
 Open to anyone
 Allows people to have blogs/live journals

3. Facebook
 About Facebook
 Created in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg
 Open to only those with a .edu email
 Users connect to users at their school and other universities
 Profile can include photos, interests and personal information
 7th most visited site on the internet
 Why we chose to focus on Facebook
 Experiences, both positive and negative
 Conversations and discussions with colleagues regarding the
topic

4. Goals of Our Presentation
 Give of an overview of Online Communities
 Share our research
 Specifics examples at Ohio University
 An opportunity to share and discuss

5. Our Research
 Qualitative Research
 Mixed Method Study
 Interviews
 Key administrators and personnel at Ohio University
 Surveys
 Ohio College Personnel Association
 Our network of colleagues
 Set a total of 79 surveys, 21 surveys returned
 Media Content Analysis
 Literature Review

6. Demographics
 Institution Size:
 Type of Departments:  4 large
 6 residence life/housing
 5 mid sized
 8 small
 6 student activities
 8 private
 2 greek life
 3 public
 1 student center mgmt
 3 judiciaries  Type of Campus:
 1 campus safety  10 residential
 3 orientation/first year  6 commuter
 1 multicultural
 15 between 13-23
 4 students are 23 and
older

7. Emerging Themes
 All respondents have used facebook or
heard about it from students, colleagues,
staff or articles.
 Tool as communication
 Administrators, fellow student
 Develop small communities with in a larger
area
 Advertise for events and parties
 A partial or full reflection on campus culture
 Drinking, Party Culture, Policy Violations

8. “It amazes me when
we are trying to find a
student….
and one of our student
workers replies…….
check facebook…their cell phone is on
there…”

9. Communication
 Positive Trends
 Students use it to find each other and connect
 Students can interact online but never meet
 Use to find out personal interests, relationship status
etc
 Students look people up from classes, parties, potential
roommates etc
 Negative Trends
 All personal info is listed: rooms #’s etc
 Communication is exaggerated, misinterpreted
 Stalking / Harassment / Identity Theft

10. “[Facebook] is only from the
perspectives of the students
who are using it…and…only
the racy/interesting/etc. is
going to get posted. ”
“…some of the uglier aspects of…facebook
provide a truer look into the realities of our
student body. ”

11. Community Development
 Proactive Communities  Negative Communities
 Student organizations  Hate groups about
use it to create an members/persons
identity  Groups that don’t
 Halls/Complex/Floor reflect the true culture
section groups  Students don’t leave
 Intramural and Team their room: no
Groups
community
 Academic Classes:
professor requested it
 Time on facebook and
not attending functions

12. “The PULSE feature
of Facebook….
tells you [the top 10]
current interests at a
school and how they
change day-to-day.
That really is a marketer’s dream come true.”

13. Advertising
 Beneficial Uses
 RA Recruitment
 Peer Leaders CONCERT:
Counting
 Orientation Leaders
Crows in the
 Univ. sponsored events Convo!!!!
 Speakers, plays, concerts
etc KEG
 Student Org. events PARTY:
Stimson!
 Unfavorable
 Parties on/off campus

14. “Students tend to use
facebook as a means of
displaying their recent binge
drinking photographs and
various other indiscretions.
This becomes difficult,
because seeing your
‘outstanding campus leader’
playing beer pong, underage, in the residence halls does
.”
not necessarily instill hope

15. Partial/Full Reflection of Culture
 Alcohol Consumption
 Profiles/Groups all about binge drinking
 More groups on alcohol than other things
 Policy Violations
 Underage consumption photos
 What is our role when we see this?
 Exaggeration of the true culture
 Profiles detailing binge episodes--not really what goes
on

16. “Use it, don’t react
irrationally, understand the
target market that is using it,
help educate students as to
the potential ramifications of
usage, and understand
implications for the college
[or university]”

17. Summary of Research
 Student affairs professionals agree their
needs to be a response
 Policy Development: Residence Life, Housing,
Judicial Affairs, Legal Affairs
 Educational Approach
 Following up with students about what is in their
profile
 Helping them understand public vs. private

18. Utilization of Facebook at OU
 Positive Strategies
 Residence Life
 Complex Communities
 Floor Sections
 Hall Councils
 Student Activities
 Network of student leaders
 Advertising Events
 Student Organizations

19. Residence Life: Complex
Communities

20. Residence Life: Floor Sections

21. Residence Life: Hall Councils

22. Student Activities

23. Examples of Facebook Groups
 OU Students for Chipotle
 OU Students for Apple Computers
 Athens Non Drinkers
 Family Guy
 OU students for Calvin and Hobbes
 Various Res. Life Staff Groups
 OU for Chili at Taco Bell

24. Down side of Facebook…
 Groups that reflect use of alcohol
 Natty Light Drinkers of America
 Blacked out on Court Street
 Groups that reflect how many times they’ve been
written up
 Used as a tool to stalk someone
 Affected the way Greek Recruitment occurred
 Used as a tool to emotionally harm others
 Creation of groups that are hateful

25. Recommendations
 Utilize Privacy Policy of Facebook.com
 Creation of policies to include “cyber-space”
 Judicial polices that reflect technology such as
Facebook.com
 Educate Professional and Student Staff
 Use it as a tool to educate, not look for
violations
 Programming, Individual Interventions
 Professional Staff Ethical Use

26. Questions?

27. For more information:
Molly Kinne
Kinne@ohiou.edu
Elizabeth Barnett
Barnette@ohiou.edu
Ohio University
Department of Residence Life
740.593.4095
Thank You for coming!!!