FACEBOOK USAGE BY STUDENTS
IN HIGHER EDUCATION .
, 1st International Conference on Higher Education Advances, HEAd’15
Universitat Politècnica de València, València, 2015
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.4995/HEAd15.2015.395
Facebook usage by students in higher education
N.F. Wesseling*
* Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences (the Netherlands)
Abstract: In this paper I measure first year student Facebook usage as part of a broader PhD study into
the influence of social media usage on the success of students in higher education. A total of 906 students
were asked to complete 3 surveys on Facebook usage with their peers, for two consecutive years (2011-
2012 and 2012-2013). The different purposes for Facebook usage, in addition to whether or not students
used (self-created) Facebook-groups, were measured and the relationship between the use of pages
compared to the purpose of Facebook usage. This resulted in significant correlations between the purpose
of Facebook usage and the use of different pages, as well as correlations between the purpose and use of
different pages. This study hereby explores the variation in student Facebook usage and provides valuable
insight into the potential value of Facebook for students in an educational setting, without the interference
of teachers. It is also the next logical step in revising existing integration and engagement theories that
predict student success in higher education in contemporary society.
Keywords: Facebook, student success, higher education, social network site, integration theory, engagement.
Introduction
This study measures Facebook usage between first year students in the Department of
Media, Communication and Information, at the Amsterdam University of Applied
Sciences for two consecutive years (2011-2012 and 2012-2013 later referred to as 2011
and 2012), and forms part of my PhD research into the potential correlation between
social media usage and the success of first year students in higher education.
Research into student success in the Netherlands is greatly influenced by Tinto’s
integration theory (1975, 1993), in which he states that the more a student is integrated,
the less chance there is of attrition. However, this integration theory dates back to the
late 1970’s and is based on the American situation, and thus requires adjusting to reflect
the contemporary Dutch situation. Whilst Tinto ascribes a positive influence to
campuses in comparison to commuting colleges for example, such residential
institutions rarely exist in the Netherlands. He states that commuting colleges don’t
benefit from a significant on-campus community and argues that these students are likely
to spend less time interacting with fellow students (Tinto, 1993), compared to residential
students.
However, in contrast to the American ’80/’90’s situation, modern Dutch students enjoy
new ways of interacting with their peers, without necessarily being physically present at
the institute. Indeed, the way in which most of us interact has changed significantly in
the last 7 years, with Ping, WhatsApp and social media platforms, such as Facebook
(FB) and Twitter, all emerging. And, although FB isn’t the only social network site
(SNS); it’s by far the most popular amongst students (Hargittai, 2008; Junco, 2012c;
Special & Li-Barber, 2012; Wesseling, 2012a).
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0).
593
IN HIGHER EDUCATION .
, 1st International Conference on Higher Education Advances, HEAd’15
Universitat Politècnica de València, València, 2015
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.4995/HEAd15.2015.395
Facebook usage by students in higher education
N.F. Wesseling*
* Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences (the Netherlands)
Abstract: In this paper I measure first year student Facebook usage as part of a broader PhD study into
the influence of social media usage on the success of students in higher education. A total of 906 students
were asked to complete 3 surveys on Facebook usage with their peers, for two consecutive years (2011-
2012 and 2012-2013). The different purposes for Facebook usage, in addition to whether or not students
used (self-created) Facebook-groups, were measured and the relationship between the use of pages
compared to the purpose of Facebook usage. This resulted in significant correlations between the purpose
of Facebook usage and the use of different pages, as well as correlations between the purpose and use of
different pages. This study hereby explores the variation in student Facebook usage and provides valuable
insight into the potential value of Facebook for students in an educational setting, without the interference
of teachers. It is also the next logical step in revising existing integration and engagement theories that
predict student success in higher education in contemporary society.
Keywords: Facebook, student success, higher education, social network site, integration theory, engagement.
Introduction
This study measures Facebook usage between first year students in the Department of
Media, Communication and Information, at the Amsterdam University of Applied
Sciences for two consecutive years (2011-2012 and 2012-2013 later referred to as 2011
and 2012), and forms part of my PhD research into the potential correlation between
social media usage and the success of first year students in higher education.
Research into student success in the Netherlands is greatly influenced by Tinto’s
integration theory (1975, 1993), in which he states that the more a student is integrated,
the less chance there is of attrition. However, this integration theory dates back to the
late 1970’s and is based on the American situation, and thus requires adjusting to reflect
the contemporary Dutch situation. Whilst Tinto ascribes a positive influence to
campuses in comparison to commuting colleges for example, such residential
institutions rarely exist in the Netherlands. He states that commuting colleges don’t
benefit from a significant on-campus community and argues that these students are likely
to spend less time interacting with fellow students (Tinto, 1993), compared to residential
students.
However, in contrast to the American ’80/’90’s situation, modern Dutch students enjoy
new ways of interacting with their peers, without necessarily being physically present at
the institute. Indeed, the way in which most of us interact has changed significantly in
the last 7 years, with Ping, WhatsApp and social media platforms, such as Facebook
(FB) and Twitter, all emerging. And, although FB isn’t the only social network site
(SNS); it’s by far the most popular amongst students (Hargittai, 2008; Junco, 2012c;
Special & Li-Barber, 2012; Wesseling, 2012a).
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0).
593
