A Place for Connecting and Disclosing: Facebook and Friendships at the Dawn of College Life

Sample

Ben barely noticed the soft July rainstorm fluttering against his bedroom window. On this late Friday afternoon, Ben knew many of his high school friends would meet together somewhere, doing something social. He’d been to several such gatherings during the summer—this intermission, this pause between the end of high school and the new life of college. Already he’d heard the beep of incoming text messages emitting from his phone. But tonight, as he clutched his Xbox controller, Ben was content to stay home and do some of the ‘alone’ things he loved most. This game is so much more controllable than my world right now, he thought.