I'm skeptical about social networking. I'm skeptical about how well it actually works for creating a network of friends beyond just acquaintances. I wonder how much it helps people connect around common interests, or how much it gets people to move outside themselves. I wonder about its possibilities for creating stronger bonds between people.
But never fear! According to an article by Larry Abramson from NPR, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is investing money in Inigral, a company that creates Facebook sites for schools in order to create a greater sense of community for students. This is an effort by the Foundation to decrease dropout rates, which can be as high as half of the freshman class by the end of the year. Apparently, retention rates have been decreasing significantly, so colleges are looking for different ways to keep these students enrolled. These sites attempt to create a network of peer support for students--available immediately upon starting school. The sites will be only for college students at that particular school.
As mentioned in the article, it will be difficult to judge how successful these school-specific Facebook pages are for creating a peer support system and reducing dropout rates. While I remain skeptical, I do like the different ways people are using social networking technologies, especially for endeavors greater than wishing the friend you haven't seen for 10 years a happy birthday.
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