Let’s face it, teenagers hardly even use Facebook anymore. Why bother using Facebook when we can use Twitter, Instagram, or send photos to our friends over Snapchat? There are so many other social media platforms that are on the rise, while FaceBook is becoming less popular. Only about half of U.S. teens aged thirteen to seventeen use Facebook. In comparison, 72% of teenagers report using Instagram and 69% report using Snapchat since 2015. Only 10% of teens report using Facebook the most out of all social media platforms. However, below are some reasons why you should be getting a Facebook account if you’re a a senior in high school.
While Facebook has become more outdated for our generation, it’s a helpful tool for college-bound high school seniors. Why? When college acceptances start rolling in, many colleges have Facebook groups for accepted students. This is a perfect opportunity for you to meet your potential peers! Part of finding your college “fit” is learning about others who you could be attending school with. You will want to have a sense of belonging, and making new friends means you’re off to a good start!
In previous generations, students didn’t have this chance. This generation has the opportunity to get to know people ahead of time. It can certainly reduce your first day of school jitters! Even if Facebook is not the most appealing social media platform, it does help you to meet new people.
As someone who experienced the college acceptance process, I can tell you that joining Facebook was perhaps one of the greatest decisions I made. I don’t use Facebook for anything other than my college’s Facebook page (and a Dogspotting group!). I didn’t regret signing up! I met my best friend and my roommate through Facebook. One of the neat features of joining your accepted college’s Facebook page is that you can search for a roommate. Students post a little about themselves in the group talking about their major, where they are from, what they like to do in their free time. They often include that they are looking for a roommate, which is how I met mine!
My roommate and I are both Psychology majors who loved the show, Friends. Through Facebook Messenger, we found out we had much more in common and then agreed to room with each other. As someone who was anxious about knowing my roommate before attending college, this was a dream come true. It is nice that in this day and age, we can look for our roommates ahead of time to make sure we would be a good fit for each other before attending the New Students Orientation (NSO) for UMass Amherst.
I also met a lot of my closest friends through Facebook, too! Often times once students get assigned their residence hall, they create a Messenger group chat to talk to each other in. We eventually broke off from the Messenger group chat and into a smaller Snapchat group that we used to message one another. We would discuss things like whether it was about who was getting dinner in which dining hall, what was happening in the lounge, or funny moments that we wanted to share with one another.
Many other clubs on campuses also use Facebook groups to communicate information about club meetings, events, and announcements to other club members. Having a Facebook account puts you one step ahead if you are planning on joining clubs while at college.
While I hardly use Facebook compared to other social media platforms such as Instagram or Snapchat (both are popular these days), it was still a great choice that made a positive impact on my college experience. If you are a high school senior, I strongly suggest getting a Facebook account! It will help you meet new friends, find a potential roommate, and even get you more involved in your future college’s campus!