The Secret Facebook Life of Teens

Monday, September 13, 2010

Cristiana Quinn, GoLocalProv College Admissions Expert

I find that students fall into two groups these days: those who believe fervently that the security controls on Facebook can keep their most personal information private, and those who don’t. The first group who believe naively that privacy controls work, should really ask an IT professional how long it would take him/her to crack security and see ALL their information. The answer is: NOT LONG. The second group of students who understand that nothing is truly private on social media sites have gone underground with assumed identities.

Facebook pseudonyms are the latest craze in the secret lives of teenagers, and you may not even be aware that your child has one.

In April, The New York Times reported on the growing trend, and by summer almost all of my students said that they knew “friends” with a secret Facebook identity and page. It’s a place where pictures and language can run wild, and they DO. Some students have one page under their real name and a second page with an alternate name; others have just the pseudonym page.

Easier than you think

Despite strict Facebook rules that prohibit members from using a false name, the practice is common and violators are rarely caught. I spoke with one URI student who told me that she had gone underground on Facebook to avoid detection during the graduate school admissions process. Other friends tell stories of colleagues who have used the tactic during job searches; the practice spans a variety of age groups.

Why is this happening with teens?

The obvious answer is to avoid the watchful eyes of parents. The less obvious reason is that kids are beginning to understand that colleges can and do look at prospective students' social media pages.

In a survey last year by the National Association of College Admissions Counselors, more than 25% of colleges acknowledged that they review student pages on Facebook and MySpace. So, chances are that one of the colleges that your child is applying to has viewed his or her social media page.

What are colleges looking for on your child's Facebook page?

Character and maturity. They don’t expect students to be perfect, but the 17-year-old holding a beer in a picture is probably not going to win an admissions rep over. They also aren’t going to look favorably on students who bully or demean other students in their posts. What do colleges like to see? Students with their family and friends, video of a soccer game and photos from vacation or hometown. They want to see posts offering to help a classmate with homework or attempting to find a home for the cat that showed up on your doorstep. They don’t expect students to post a cure for cancer or the recent opera that they wrote, but they do want to see that applicants are kind and responsible. Colleges are looking for students who will be an asset to the student body on paper and in REAL LIFE.

So, when students log on to Facebook tonight, they should remember that the image they portray in their posts can be positive or negative. More importantly, though, the pictures they post today will follow them forever.

Cristiana Quinn, M.Ed. is the founder of College Admission Advisors, LLC, a Providence-based educational consulting firm which provides strategic, individual counseling for college-bound students. www.collegeadvisorsonline.com