A recent survey of college students in the U.S. showed that social networking sites are used for social interaction with offline
acquaintances in order to maintain friendships rather than to make new friends (Ellison et al., 2007). In fact, these authors found a
strong positive relationship between Facebook use and social capital, or the resources gained through social interactions. Surveys
of teens and college students with social networking site memberships reveal that youth primarily use these sites to stay in touch
with friends they see often and those whom they see rarely (Lenhart & Madden, 2007; Wiley & Sisson, 2006). In addition, about
half of teens use social networking sites to make new friends (Lenhart & Madden, 2007) and about half of college students use
them to let others “know about me” (Wiley & Sisson, 2006).
Consistent with Buhrmester and Prager's (1995) model of self-disclosure, peer feedback influences the user's self esteem. For
example, a study of Dutch social networking site members between 10 and 19 years found that users' self-esteem was directly
related to the tone of responses received about information posted on their personal page (i.e., profile) and that self-esteem, in
turn, was related to their overall well-being (Valkenburg, Peter, & Schouten, 2006). Not surprisingly, positive feedback was related
to positive self-esteem and negative feedback to negative self-esteem. The findings suggest that adolescents use social networking
sites as a way to gauge peer opinions about themselves, which may consequently influence identity formation.
1.4. How youth use social networking sites
Limited research is available about howadolescents and young adults interact on social networking sites. Online sites are often
considered innovative and different from traditional media such as television, film, and radio because they allow direct interaction
with others. However, one study of online teen bulletin boards found that many visitors spend considerable time “lurking,” or
reading others' posts without posting any reply (Suziki & Calzo, 2004). Social networking sites, like bulletin boards, also allow
users to look at what others have posted without requiring any specific response. These sites facilitate interaction with others and
feedback from others, as well as input from the user in creating a profile. However, they also make it easy for users to lurk while
looking at others' content. We were interested here in how users socially interact on Facebook.
1.5. Purpose and hypotheses of this study
The primary goals of this study were to describe: 1) how much time college students use social networking websites, 2) why
they use them, and 3) how they use them (i.e., to observe/lurk, create, or interact). This study adds to the literature in several
important ways. First, it measures time use and activities performed across a 7-day period using a diary-like method in an attempt
to provide a more accurate and detailed assessment of time use. Second, we analyzed a rich set of responses to open-ended
questions in order to clarify why students use Facebook, which is supplemented with survey information on what activities they
perform. Third, the nature of social exchanges that take place on Facebook is described. Based primarily on initial assessments by
Lenhart and Madden (2007) and Wiley and Sisson (2006), and the theoretical framework of Arnett (2000), the following
hypotheses were made:
H1. Young adults would use Facebook daily;
H2. Young adults would use Facebook primarily for social interaction;
H3. Young adults would interact with their peers that they know offline rather than searching for new friends on Facebook or
contacting family members;
H4. Profile information, which is clearly intended for others to read, would be used to express identity;
H5. As these students are young adults, their profile would involve information about religion, political ideology, and work, topics
that are germane to identity development during emerging adulthood;
H6. Young adults would interact with one another by posting messages in public forums.
2. Method
2.1. Participants
Ninety-two undergraduate students (60 females; mean age=20.59 years, SD=1.07) from two psychology classes at a private
university in a large metropolitan area participated in this study for extra credit. First year students comprised 20.65% of the
sample, sophomores 23.91%, juniors 35.87%, and seniors 18.48%. The sample was 75% Anglo/Euro-American, 6.52% African-
American, 6.52% Asian-American or Pacific Islander, 4.35% Hispanic-American, and 7.60% of an ethnicity other than those listed or
of a mixed background.
Most students originally activated their Facebook account during the summer before college (53.26%), though some did so after
they began college (38.04%). On average, respondents had been using Facebook for about 2 years (M=24.32 months, SD=9.93).
Only students who had a Facebook account participated in this study, but almost all of the students in the classes were members of
Facebook. Previous studies have found that more than 90% of college students use Facebook (Ellison et al., 2007; Wiley & Sisson,
2006).
2.2. Description of Facebook
Facebook.com originated in 2004 to facilitate social interaction exclusively among college students. The site now includes more
than 49 million users and is available for use by anyone with a valid email address (Facebook, nd/no date). Facebook operates by
allowing users to select one or more “networks” to which they will belong, such as a specific high school or university, a
geographical area or city, or a company. Some networks, such as a university or a metropolitan area, may include thousands of
members. Each user maintains a “profile,” which is a webpage containing basic information such as the individual's year of
graduation and home town, as well as personal information, such as his or her name and whether he or she is single or in a
relationship (i.e., “relationship status”). Users may inform others about what they are doing by changing the “current status”
message that appears at the top of the profile.
In addition, Facebook allows users to designate “friends.” An individual who is invited to be a member's Facebook friend may
either accept or reject the offer, thus providing individual control over one's list of friends. The user can control how much
information to post and who can view this information by editing their privacy settings. Specific groups of people (a network or
friends) may be granted limited access to specific parts of the profile.
Facebook members can upload digital pictures into virtual photo albums. A user can be “tagged” in these pictures so that his or
her name appears in the caption as a link to his or her profile. If the individual does notwant to be associated with the picture, he or
she can “untag” it, thereby removing the name and the link (though this does not remove the picture). Members are able to post
comments on photos, which appear as messages below the picture. Similarly, it is possible to post links to videos.
Facebook offers several options for communicating with others. Users can interact by sending private messages, similar to
emailing. Members who are “friends” may post public messages on each other's “walls,” which are personal message boards on
their profiles. Communication may also occur in groups, which Facebook members can create and join. Groups may be formed on
any topic (e.g., Procrastinators Unite…Tomorrow; Indian Classical Dancers; I am a Carnivore). Offline social interactions can be
facilitated through Facebook by creating invitations to events, or online notifications for meetings, parties, and other gatherings.
Users may also post “notes” or blog-like entries that are linked to their profile pages.
The “headline” news in one's Facebook account is captured by “news feed” and “mini-feed” functions. The news feed, which
appears on the user's homepage upon log-in, provides a list of actions that friends have recently undertaken, such as posting on
walls or changing their relationship status. In addition, each user's personal list of actions appears in his or her own profile as the
mini-feed. A user's mini-feed tracks “stories” that will appear about him or her in friends' news feeds. Users may restrict the types
of stories broadcast about them by these applications.
2.3. Procedure
Upon completing an informed consent form, participants were given a diary-like measure containing 7 time use questions (one per
day) and a 7-day activities checklist to document their Facebook use,which theywere asked to take with themto complete each evening.
When they returned this form one week later, they were given a survey about their Facebook use which they completed overnight.
2.3.1. Diary measure
The amount of time spent using Facebook was assessed daily using a diary-like measure in which each undergraduate student
1) reported the total amount of time (in minutes) that he or she spent on Facebook each day for a oneweek period and 2) checked off the specific activities that he or she did each day for that one week period. The 25 typical Facebook activities included in the
checklist (e.g., posting photos, looking at photos, posting onwalls, reading posts on one's ownwall, reading posts on others' walls)
were selected from input with several undergraduate research assistants who were familiar with Facebook. Daily time use
questionswere used rather than global estimates for a “typical”week because global estimates tend to overestimate the amount of
time spent in an activity, e.g., television viewing (see Anderson, Field, Collins, Lorch, & Nathan, 1985).
The diary measure also included open-ended questions about social networking sites that were completed at the end of the 7-
day period: 1) “Why do you use Facebook?” and 2) “What do you think is the most interesting thing about social network websites
(i.e., Facebook, MySpace