Social Media Before College Begins

The only thing on my mind the past few weeks has been starting college. I've already done the whole "away from home" bit, so that part isn't nearly as exciting as the thought of meeting new people and just experiencing an environment which I imagine to be entirely different from boarding school.

Last week Tuesday, my class found out about housing assignments as well as First Year Seminars. Information about housing assignments include a Commons (similar to a Hogwarts house) that you are affiliated with for four years, a dorm within that commons and a room mate. Before the age of social networking, room mates met on the first day of school without any prior knowledge of each other. Everything about your room mates personality was a complete surprise and your opinion of them was based on solely your personal experiences with them. The age of technology now makes it possible to do "research" on your room mate before school begins. This could potentially change your relationship with your roommate and the room dynamic of your room.

I have not yet decided whether I think social networking is entirely a good or a bad thing. I friended my room mate on Facebook because it felt weird not to, but I am wary of obsessing over her Facebook page or digging deeper into her personal life. Social media is useful in learning a little bit about people before meeting them, but it can certainly paint people in a negative light. Without receiving more context about a person, their social media profile could paint an either incomplete or inaccurate picture that has the potential to ruin your relationship before you've even met.

Depending on how your future roommate uses Facebook (twitter, etc.) she can appear to either be too boring, weird or crazy for you. This online appearance could differ greatly from what your room mate is like in real life. It's difficult not to try to judge and analyze everything you find during your room mate research, but it's probably best to keep online contact with her to a minimum to avoid a situation like this. Even if you might end up hitting it off, you never know what could happen between you.

There is no problem with adding your roommate on Facebook and discussing important details about the room (such as decor), but I don't understand the need to become best friends over the internet before meeting in real life. Maybe I only think this way because I'm an awkward person online, but I think it's best to remain in the Dark Ages of communication until you see each other in person for the first time in September. You will have plenty of time to chat when the school year begins.