University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

The Facebook Effect: Social Network Sites and Changing Experiences of LGBT Students at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Romero, Jason C.

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https://hdl.handle.net/2142/3588

Description

Title
The Facebook Effect: Social Network Sites and Changing Experiences of LGBT Students at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Author(s)
Romero, Jason C.
Issue Date
2008-02-08
Keyword(s)
  • Facebook
  • LGBT
  • gay
  • lesbian
  • bisexual
  • queer
  • transgender
  • internet
  • equity
  • diveristy
  • ANTH411_F07
Abstract
For my project I addressed the effect that LGBT students use of Facebook has on their use of LGBT services associated with the university. I interviewed a gay student and the director of the Office of LGBT Resources, and found that students' use of Facebook both diminishes and enhances LGBT services offered by the university in a complex relationship. Facebook empowers LGBT students by enabling them to find other LGBT students outside of the LGBT services associated with the university. However, these same services use Facebook to reach LGBT students, and the construction of Facebook contributes to additional advertising for these students. Whether or not students use these services, though, they are still considered to perform a symbolic function that the Internet is incapable of replacing.
Series/Report Name or Number
"ANTH 411: Methods for Sociocultural Anthropology, Prof. Nancy Abelmann. This course introduced students to a variety of ethnographic methods. Students tried their hand at some of these methods through a focused project. I had students think about their semester-long work as ""pilot research""; although they did write up a short paper on their findings (their ""discuss"" section of the database), the culminating assignment was a research proposal in which they envision building on their preliminary findings in a longer/larger project. In the beginning of the semester, students did some warm-up exercises not directly related to their projects (an observation, an analysis of a university document, and an interview) -- some students elected to remove these from their databases while others left them in because of their connection to the final project. Students' ""question"" and ""plan"" sections of the database include multiple entries as I encouraged them to continue to refine these over the course of the semester in dialogue with their own emerging findings. I also asked students to search both the U of I Student Life and Cultures Archives and well as this EUI IDEALS collection to find archives relevant to their pilot/proposed research. All students were asked to ""reflect"" on the research experience and to make ""recommendations"" to the University on the basis of their research findings. The course syllabus is available at: www.eui.uiuc.edu/docs/syllabi/ANTH411F07.doc"
Type of Resource
text
Permalink
http://hdl.handle.net/2142/3588

Owning Collections

Diversity on Campus/Equity and Access PRIMARY
This collection examines ways in which the U.S. university and the American college experience are affected by diversity, and difference. In particular, these student projects examine experiences of diversity on campus, including important contemporary social, cultural, and political debates on equity and access to university resources.
Technology and Student Life
This collection appreciates and investigates the meanings and impact of new technologies on students' social lives, learning, and group formation.
Student Communities and Culture
The university offers an extraordinary opportunity to study and document student communities, life, and culture. This collection includes research on the activities, clubs, and durable social networks that comprise sometimes the greater portion of the university experience for students.