Understanding the Facebook Generation: A Study of the Relationship Between Online Social Networking and Academic and Social Integration and Intentions to Re-enroll

The purpose of this research was to study the relationship between online social networking and academic and social integration and intentions to re-enroll for first-year residential students at a regional comprehensive university. This research contributes to the literature by providing significant findings that online social networking was a negative predictor of academic integration as defined by Tinto (1993). Online social networking was a significant negative predictor for student's perceptions of faculty concern for student development and teaching and for academic and intellectual development. This led to the conclusion that online social networking was a negative influence on the college student academic experience. The study participants spent an average of 2.5 hours on online social networking websites per day, mainly interacting with peers, old high school and other college friends, and family. There was minimal online social networking interaction with faculty and other non-student members of the campus community. Other significant findings included differences in amounts of time spent in online social networking based on gender and Pell grant qualification. This study provides quantitative evidence that online social networking was significantly influencing first-year residential students at a public regional comprehensive institution, thus placing online social networking as an important variable in the college persistence equation.