The Digital Development of College Students

@paulgordonbrown The Digital Development of College Students

So who is this guy? @paulgordonbrown

Research Impact of social and digital technology on college student’s concepts of self. Presentations - Be. Act. Do. Digital Leadership. - Digital Social Justice - What Every Digital #SApro Should Do - Engaging With Students Online and With Social Media @paulgordonbrown

@paulgordonbrown www.paulgordonbrown.com paulgordonbrown@gmail.com

(Turkle, 2004, para 6) “I want to study not only what the computer is doing for us, but what it is doing to us.” - Turkle

0 25 50 75 100 Facebook Instragram Twitter Pintrest LinkedIn Social Media Platform Adoption (2014) Source: Pew Research Center Social Media Update 2104 @paulgordonbrown

Sex Race Age Educational Level Income Employment Status Urban/Rural Which demographic breakdown reveals the biggest disparity in social media adoption? @paulgordonbrown

Age @paulgordonbrown

0 25 50 75 100 Facebook Instragram Twitter Pintrest LinkedIn Social Media Platform Adoption (2014) Age comparison 18-29 yo 65+ yo Source: Pew Research Center Social Media Update 2104 @paulgordonbrown

89% of adults 18-29 years old use social media 67% access it on mobile 98% of adults ages 18-29 are on the internet (Brenner, 2013; Brenner & Smith, 2013; Pew Internet Project, n.d.) younger generations are using the internet, social media, and mobile technologies at a high rate

0 25 50 75 100 Facebook Instragram Twitter Pintrest LinkedIn Social Media Platform Adoption (2014) Household income comparison Less than 30k/yr More than 75k/yr 30k- 30k- 75k+ 75k+ 75k+ Source: Pew Research Center Social Media Update 2104 @paulgordonbrown

0 25 50 75 100 Facebook Instragram Twitter Pintrest LinkedIn Social Media Platform Adoption (2014) Race comparison White Hispanic Black Black Black Black White White Source: Pew Research Center Social Media Update 2104 @paulgordonbrown

0 25 50 75 100 Facebook Instragram Twitter Pintrest LinkedIn Social Media Platform Adoption (2014) Sex comparison Men Women Women Women Men Women Men Source: Pew Research Center Social Media Update 2104 @paulgordonbrown

@paulgordonbrown

anything in EXCESS is likely bad. @paulgordonbrown

youth-normative vs adult-normative perspectives -Reynol Junco @paulgordonbrown

NORMATIVE adult (Junco 2014)

youth NORMATIVE (Junco 2014)

social media is a TOOL @paulgordonbrown

Pick your platforms Twitter: I’m eating a #donut. Facebook: I like donuts. Foursquare: This is where I eat donuts. Instagram: Here’s a vintage photo of my donut. YouTube: Here I am eating a donut. LinkedIn: My skills include donut eating. Pintrest: Here’s a donut recipe. Spotify: Now listening to “Donuts.” Google+: I’m a Google employee who eats donuts.

social media is also a CONTEXT @paulgordonbrown

of jobs are landed through networking and personal relationships 80% John Bennett, Assistant professor of behavioral science at the McColl School of Business at Queens University of Charlotte

of recruiters use or plan to begin using social networks/social media for recruiting 94% Jobvite Social Recruiting Survey 2013

Use Twitter 55% Jobvite Social Recruiting Survey 2013

Use Facebook 65% Jobvite Social Recruiting Survey 2013

Use LinkedIn 94% Jobvite Social Recruiting Survey 2013

So what do we DOabout it?

Social media is increasingly understood as a part of the developmental process.

DIGITAL IDENTITY ? @paulgordonbrown

confusion there’s a lot of with this word… @paulgordonbrown

“Many student affairs professionals use the term digital identity development to refer to online professional self- presentation; however, it is important to tease apart the differences between using social media as part of the exploration and development of identity and using social media to present oneself in a certain way.” (Junco, 2014, p. 257) @paulgordonbrown

“Labeling the latter digital identity development confounds a developmental process with a professional communication strategy. Furthermore, labeling online professional self-presentation digital identity development may keep the ﬁeld of student affairs from more critically and deeply examining how the emerging adult identity development process is affected by online interactions.” (Junco, 2014, p. 257)

Self Presentation Developmental Process @paulgordonbrown

Self Presentation Some use it to refer to

digital stamp.

digital footprints follow us.

FROM THE WOMB! We even have digital stamps

Self Presentation Developmental Process @paulgordonbrown

Psychological Process conflated with a @paulgordonbrown

in here today we’ll be talking about what’s going on @paulgordonbrown

research What does the say? @paulgordonbrown

é Engagement é Persistence é Social Capital é Relationships é Narcissism ê Task-Switching Whattheresearchtellsus… Collegestudentsocialmedia useandoutcomes…

nothing. There has been little to no qualitative research focusing on the influence of digital and social media on student development.

You can take two points of view…

“human development ‘remain[s] much the same from age to age and must so remain as long as human nature and physical environment existing theories modify/apply (Evans, Forney, Guido, Patton, & Renn, 2010, p. 93; Haskins, 1957) continue what they have been. In his relations to life and learning the medieval student resembled his modern successor far more than is often supposed’ (p. 93).”

(Evans, Forney, Guido, Patton, & Renn, 2010, p. 5; Woodard, Love, & Komives, 2000) “Rapidly changing conditions within society have created dramatically different circumstances for students across time and location… student development must be considered in light of these changing scenarios.” develop new theories

Applying current theories to online/ social media contexts. • Chickering • Baxter Magolda/Kegan • Bronfenbrenner

Vectorsof Identity Development Chickering’s DIGITAL

• Developing competence • Managing emotions • Moving through autonomy to interdependence • Developing mature interpersonal relationships • Establishing identity • Developing Purpose • Establishing Integrity Vectors

Developing Competence

• Time management • Facility in using online tools to complete tasks • Communication and interaction skills • Relationship skills • Not exhibiting humblebrag behavior Developing Competence DIGITAL

Managing Emotions

• Anger management - Thinking before posting • Dealing with depression - Self confidence recognizing that social media posts often only show the positive • Expanding and expressing range of positive emotions • Not posting for sympathy or to elicit response form others Managing Emotions DIGITAL

Autonomy & Interdependence

• Ownership over one’s online life • Able to use social media as a tool for action • Finding information and resources • Resisting peer pressure • Consciously choosing peers and relationships • Basing relationships on equality and reciprocity Autonomy & Interdependence DIGITAL

“And I like honesty in a relationship… I’m not into playing games.” Mature Interpersonal Relationships

• Able to engage in civil discourse through comments and chats • Understanding what online versus offline relationship maintenance should look like - acts appropriately • Thinks about one’s posts and its impact on others Mature Interpersonal Relationships DIGITAL

Marcia Baxter Magolda’s Theory of Self-Authorship

What is Self-Authorship? A particular and relatively enduring way of understanding and orienting oneself to provocative situations in a way that: 1) Recognizes the contextual nature of knowledge; and 2) Balances and guides this understanding with the development of internally defined goals and sense of self

Urie Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological Theory

The student.

is in network with others… campus cultures… decision makers and rules… and broader societal beliefs.

These all interact in complex overlapping ways…

Microsystem Mesosystem Exosystem Macrosystem Creating an overall context within which interactions and processes occur that impact a student’s development through time.

Microsystem Mesosystem Exosystem Macrosystem Online interactions with other individuals are placed within the microsystem Microsystems are where one-on-one interactions occur.

Microsystem Mesosystem Exosystem Macrosystem “Although Bronfenbrenner did not include computer-mediated contexts in which college students now experience ‘activities, roles, and interpersonal relations’ (p. 16), in the twenty-ﬁrst century it seems reasonable to include these contexts, which are not face-to-face settings, in the deﬁnition of microsystems since they are sites where social, physical, and symbolic features may provoke or retard engagement with the environment, as described by Bronfenbrenner (1993).” p.163

The student is at an intersection point of a number of networks.

Microsystem Mesosystem Exosystem Macrosystem is in network with others… is immersed in social media site culture… and is subject to rules and decisions made by social media designers… …and broader beliefs about how the site functions and is used.

Applying current theories to online/ social media contexts. • Chickering • Baxter Magolda/Kegan • Bronfenbrenner

Developing new theory my research

“The major achievement of normal development was a ﬁrm and ﬁxed ‘sense of identity’” - Gergen Traditional theories held that… (Gergen, 2000, p. 41)@paulgordonbrown

We no longer exist as playwrights or actors but as terminals of multiple networks. -Baudrillard (Baudrillard, 1987/2012, p. 23)@paulgordonbrown

BLURRYHYBRIDIZED SATURATED The online proﬁle “is and is not the user.” (Martínez Alemán & Lynk Wartman, 2009, p. 23) a “rupture” or “a series of decisive far-reaching breaks from the past” (Bloland, 2005, p. 125) an “implosion” or a collapse of boundaries (Baudrillard, 1981/1995) “singularity… a future period during which the pace of technological change will be so rapid, its impact so deep, that human life will be irreversibly transformed” (Kurzweil, 2005) @paulgordonbrown

Maria discussing her Instagram proﬁle: “I think it's who I am but also who I want to be and who I want to become.”

Adie discussing her friend who is constantly on social media: “I guess she experiences a lot of fo-mo in general…. it's like you're consuming other peoples' lives through social media. I guess that might appeal to some people, in a sense, not that they're necessarily upset that they missed the event that someone else was at because that person posted at it, but you get to experience what you were doing and what your friend was doing based on their post. So in a way it's like you're passing on that experience.”

Question Research How do contemporary college students understand and develop concepts of “self” online? @paulgordonbrown

preliminary findings @paulgordonbrown

Who are the “yous”? @paulgordonbrown

Is there an online you? Is there an offline you? Is there a Facebook you? Is there a Twitter you? IS there a student you? Is there a family you? Are there multiple “yous” within them? @paulgordonbrown

Are you a different person in these contexts? Are you the same person? @paulgordonbrown

HolisticSeparate “DigitizedSelfhood” Spectrum @paulgordonbrown

Projector @paulgordonbrown

Parallel @paulgordonbrown

Octopus @paulgordonbrown

What is digitized selfhood? @paulgordonbrown

HolisticSeparate “DigitizedSelfhood” Spectrum @paulgordonbrown

Developing new theory my research

some things to thinkabout

(Turkle, 2004, para 6) “I want to study not only what the computer is doing for us, but what it is doing to us.” - Turkle

Engage with students on social media because we need to understand them in all of their contexts. Be open to a different (not necessarily better or worse) way. Learn from and with students how to navigate the online environment. Help them avoid mistakes. Help them understand their self- presentation and reputation online; Understand how social media may impact the developmental process-both in light of current theory and in ways we do not yet understand. Be able to help students understand, navigate and leverage it.

Maria’s advice for college administrators educating college students about social media: “I think I'd say not to phrase it as a cautionary tale, because it’s something that we’re never gonna listen to… we know we know more than administrators with social media. So I think it should be more about trying to really understand how we use it, and not just look at it negatively, because I think it's so stigmatized, but really understand how to work with it, because it's not going away.”

@paulgordonbrown The Digital Development of College Students

@paulgordonbrown www.paulgordonbrown.com paulgordonbrown@gmail.com