The Silent Majority? College Students’ Views, Conditions, and Reactions to Drunken Facebook Posts

• Date: 01 April 2018
• DOI: 10.1177/0022042617743256
• Author: Loreen Wolfer
• Published date: 01 April 2018
• Subject Matter: Articles

https://doi.org/10.1177/0022042617743256

Journal of Drug Issues

2018, Vol. 48(2) 165 –181

© The Author(s) 2017

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DOI: 10.1177/0022042617743256

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Article

The Silent Majority? College

Students’ Views, Conditions, and

Reactions to Drunken Facebook

Posts

Loreen Wolfer1

Abstract

College students’ definitions of inappropriate drunken posts, their reasoning, and what they

do in response are generally absent in the literature. An online survey of 522 college students

examined two drunken Facebook posts, one a general statement of drunkenness and a second

which specifically mentioned vomiting and being underage. Findings suggest that students’ views

of these posts are more complex and less accepting than previously thought. Most students

considered both posts “a little” to “very” inappropriate, but the second post was more

negatively viewed. A common reason was that the posts were socially unpopular, especially if

the individual was underage. Findings also show that overwhelmingly students would ignore an

inappropriate post or react in a way that is invisible to the poster. Thus, visible reactions may

be falsely biased toward favorable feedback, even if many views are disapproving. Theoretical

and practical implications are discussed.

Keywords

alcohol, Facebook, college students

Introduction and Literature Review

Social network sites have become a foundation of adolescent culture. Numerous studies have

documented the high rates of adolescent and college student use of sites such as Facebook,

Instagram, and MySpace (Duggan & Brenner, 2013; Lenhart, 2015; Moreno & Whitehill, 2014).

Even with the increased variety in social networking sites, Facebook remains one of the most

popular social networking sites with more than 90% of college students having an active

Facebook account, most of whom check it at least once a day (Brenner, 2012; Lewis, Kaufman,

& Christakis, 2008; Moreno & Whitehill, 2014; Pempek, Yermolayevaa, & Calvert, 2009). For

both young and adult users, Facebook is one avenue to keep in contact with friends and family,

feel a part of others’ lives, vent negative feelings, gain attention, and find entertainment

(Brandtzaeg, Lüders, & Skjetne, 2010; Leung, 2013; Nadkarni & Hofmann, 2012).

With high popularity comes a plethora of research into the positive and negative results of this

additional level of social interaction, especially regarding peer influence. Adolescents and young

1University of Scranton, PA, USA

Corresponding Author:

Loreen Wolfer, Department of Sociology, Criminal Justice, and Criminology, University of Scranton,

4th Floor O’Hara Hall, Scranton, PA 18510, USA.

Email: Loreen.Wolfer@scranton.edu

743256JODXXX10.1177/0022042617743256Journal of Drug IssuesWolfer

research-article2017

166 Journal of Drug Issues 48(2)

adults rely on peers to help them understand minor issues like currently popular clothes and

entertainment as well as more major ones like sexuality and drug/alcohol use (Brechwald &

Prinstein, 2011; Hill et al., 2013; Johnston, O’Malley, Bachman, & Schulenberg, 2012; McInerney,

2014). The bonds young adults form with each other not only transmit this knowledge but also

lead to a sense of social connectedness (Allen, Ryan, Gray, McInerney, & Waters, 2014). Among

adolescents and young adults, social network sites such as Facebook have shown to be beneficial

for maintaining personal ties across wide geographical locations (Davis, 2012), for helping

young adults and adolescent experiment with different aspects of their burgeoning identity (Allen

et al., 2014; Barker, 2012; Rodriguez, Litt, Neighbors, & Lewis, 2016), and for helping them

transition to adulthood by giving them a sense of belonging (Allen et al., 2014).

However, the very ease of sharing personal information on social networking has some down-

sides. Online gossip, bullying, and the promotion of dangerous behavior can result from online

social connectedness (Allen et al., 2014; Boyle, LaBrie, Froidevaux, & Witkovic, 2016). The

potentially harmful effects of social media can also be more indirect. Brechwald and Prinstein

(2011) argue that adolescent development is based not only on adolescent modeling but also on

perceptions of social comparisons. In other words, adolescents are not only socialized by peer

actions but also by what they think their peers are doing. When an adolescent posts about a dan-

gerous behavior, this leads other adolescents to believe that their peers are engaging in that spe-

cific behavior (even in the absence of any proof beyond a mere mention), so those reading the

posts are more likely to engage in that behavior as well. Evidence for this is found in studies of

misperception of alcohol use (Boyle et al., 2016; Carey, Borsari, Carey, & Maisto, 2006; Perkins,

Haines, & Rice, 2005), sexual activity (Brown, 2000), and peer’s smoking behavior (Kypri &

Langley, 2003; Otten, Engels, & Prinstein, 2009).

Many researchers now recognize that young adults using social network sites, like Facebook,

work to consciously craft online images of themselves that will foster their social capital and

connections (Birnbaum, 2013; Boyd & Ellison, 2007; Ellison, Steinfield, & Lampe, 2011; Reich,

2010; West & Trester, 2013). Two emergent theories that explain this process are the Media

Practice Model (MPM) and the Facebook Influence Model (FIM). The MPM, which incorporates

many aspects of social learning theory, argues that adolescents interact with media based on who

they are and who they want to be. In this way, adolescents and young adults explore content that

they see peers post online; consider it for their own identity; and, if they chose to incorporate it,

post evidence of that behavior; and then use the online feedback for reflection and possible

alteration (Brown, 2000; Moreno & Whitehill, 2014). In this context, the depictions of alcohol

consumption on social media sites are far-reaching and promote the image of consumption as

normative and expected (regardless of actual behavior), thereby leading to increased alcohol

consumption on the part of others as they view these images, reflect upon them for their own

behavior or identity, and copy them due to perceived expectations and a desire to fit in (Litt &

Stock, 2011; Moreno & Whitehill, 2014; Mundt, Mercken, & Zakletskaia, 2012; Ridout &

Campbell, 2014; Shinew & Parry, 2005).

The FIM is based on concept mapping and has identified four ways in which Facebook is

influential to adolescent and young adult behavior (Moreno, Kota, Schoohs, & Whitehill, 2013;

Moreno & Whitehill, 2014). These concepts include connection, identification, comparison, and

immersive experience. Connection refers to the ease in which information is accessible and able

to be disseminated in across a wide variety of people and groups (Moreno, D’Angelo, & Whitehill,

2016; Moreno et al., 2013; Moreno & Whitehill, 2014). Identification is how individuals create

and reflect upon their individual and social identity through their presentation of their interests

and how they debate whether to copy others on Facebook. The third component, comparison, an

important component of adolescent and young adult culture, is where young adults compare their

standing with their peers based on comments and emoticon feedback to posts. Last, immersive

experience refers to the positive and negative experiences that can alter the user’s mood and