Social Media and College Admissions: The First Longitudinal Study

It’s no surprise that social media has changed the landscape of college admissions. The current generation graduating high school has been exposed to the internet since childhood, and as such has been dubbed the “wired generation.” Be it wired or wireless, the 16- to 24-year-olds of today are constantly connected—plugged into digital music devices, cellphones, the internet, instant messenger, and social networks, perhaps all on the same device. This world of interactivity and hypercommunication has fundamentally changed how teenagers and young adults receive, process, and act on information. This research report explores how a university reaches the eyes and ears of an audience that is largely responsible for over one billion text messages sent per day in the United States.

This report was originally distributed by the Society for New Communications Research, which officially merged with The Conference Board in January 2016.