Facing Forward
It’s one of the most visited web sites on the internet and yet most of us over thirty have never heard of it. If fact, back in October, it ranked 10th most visted site in the United States. But if you’re an undergraduate student at just about any college in America, The Facebook is as important to you as a Nalgene bottle. I was recently reminded about a fascinating study centered around the politics of UNC Facebook users done by Fred Stutzman, a member of UNC’s ibiblio. He discovered that:
- 85% of Carolina’s Freshman class are on the Facebook.
- Freshmen make an average of 65 new friends in their first semester.
- Freshman political orientation does not change significantly in the first semester.
- Conservative students make more friends.
- Conservative and Liberal students in Chapel Hill like many of the same books, such as Catcher in the Rye, Harry Potter, To Kill a Mockingbird, Da Vinci Code, Angels and Demons, and The Great Gatsby.
- Similarly, they like some of the same bands, including Coldplay and The Killers. Carolina conservatives are really into a band called Rascal Flatts.
Of course, there are a few caveats and a legitimate social scientist would probably want to study his methodology closely. Be sure to check out the comments at the end of the post. Some interesting stuff there too. For example, a student at the University of Alabama claims that liberal and conservative students at both Carolina and UNC like the same movies. Liberals choose Garden State and conservatives pick The Notebook and Anchorman. Also, there was a similar study done at Salisbury University.