This document outlines a proposed study to examine the role of social network sites in helping people adapt to life transitions, specifically the transition to college. It discusses relevant theoretical frameworks on challenges of transitions and adaptation. It proposes using both quantitative and qualitative methods, including analyzing social network data to explore how networks provide direct support, surveying students to see if social support is related to lower stress and better adaptation, and interviewing students to understand everyday information behaviors on social media during the transition to college. The goal is to better understand how social networks sites can act as a supportive resource and informational hub during a significant life change.

1. Networked Information Behavior
During a Life Transition
Fred Stutzman

2. General Outline
 Motivation and Background
 Theoretical Frameworks
 Challenges of Transitions
 Processes of Adaptation
 The Social Network During
Transition
 Supportive Networks
 Everyday Information Behavior
 The Proposed Study
 Dynamics, Outcomes, Uses
 Evaluation, Comparison, Contributions

3. Motivation and Background
 Early Research on SNS
 High levels of adoption
 High levels of disclosure
 Strong sense of close community
 Transition as Inflection Point
 My transitions: AIM, ICQ, E-mail
 Their transition: SNS, M/Y/AIM, E-
mail, TXT, and so on.
 SNS as supportive resource during
transition
 SNS as informational hub during
change
Stutzman 2006, 2008; Lampe et al., 2006, 2008

4. Theoretical Framework
 Conceptions of Transition
 Events causing change (e.g. Schlossberg), development (e.g.
Arnett), role change (e.g. Fuchs, Ashforth), relocation (e.g.
Fisher)
 Processes of Transition, Common Components
 Information search/learning, identity construction, creation and
enactment of roles, development of support network
 Adaptation to Transition, Common Components
 Mediating factors: Perception of transition, individual
characteristics, characteristics of transitional
environment.

5. Adaptation to Transition
 Characteristics of the transitional
environment
 Institutional support systems
 Structure of the transitional
environment
 Physical settings
 Support networks
 Social support
 Social networks
 Personal relationships

6. Central Challenges of Transition
 Challenge 1: Adaptation to new environment
 Adaptation: Integration into environment, accept and manage
losses associated with transition, adjust to new challenges and
responsibilities (e.g. Nicholson, Schlossberg)
 Challenge 2: Manage transitional stress
 Transitions are associated with stress
 Definition: Social, environmental or personal demands requiring
adjustment to behavioral patterns
 Often associated with “life events”
 Related to a range of outcomes, including decreased health, poor
adaptation.

7. Socio-Technical Support Networks
 Social Network Site as Supportive Resource
 Components of Social Support (e.g. Cohen, Cutrona,
Sarason & Sarason)
 Tangible Support: “Concrete assistance”
 Informational Support: Advice, guidance, solutions
 Emotional Support: Caring, empathy
 Network Support: Being part of a group
 Stress and social support : Two processes
 Direct effect relationship
 Buffering relationship

8. Goal of the Proposed Study
 Examine the role social
network sites play in
adaptation to college
 Explore the supportive role
the social network site during
transition
 Explore how the social
network site is integrated
into everyday information
seeking frameworks

9. Methods: Exploring Supportive Role
 Dual-process support/stress relationship
 Direct effect: Presence of supportive social network
 Measured by exploring size of network
 Measured by exploring factors associated with growth of network
 Buffer effect: Perception of supportive social network
 Measured by testing relationship between contextual support (at
perceived and received level) and the following outcomes:
 Stress (PSS-10)
 Adaptation (Adaptation to college scale)
 SNS setting affords opportunity to explore the support
hypothesis at both levels, direct and buffer.

10. Methods: Exploring Supportive Role
 Exploring the Direct Effect Hypothesis
 Dataset: Longitudinal Facebook Dataset, Fall 2005
 Research Questions
 RQ1: What factors are associated with creation of socio-
technical support networks?
 RQ2: What factors are associated with the growth of socio-
technical support networks?
 Methods
 RQ1: Exploratory network analysis using block modeling,
Erdos-Renyi random graphs with MCMC Estimation
 RQ2: Longitudinal exploration of network size expansion using
latent growth analysis.

11. Methods: Exploring Supportive Role
 Exploring the Buffering
Effect Hypothesis
 Dataset: Proposed Freshman
web survey
 Research Questions
 RQ1: Does SNS use for
adaptation purposes increase
adaptation to college?
 RQ2: Does social support
perceived and received
through SNS decrease stress?

12. Methods: Exploring Supportive Role
 Exploring the
Buffering Effect
Hypothesis
 Research Methods
 Explore RQ1 and
RQ2 individually
 Fit RQ1 and RQ2
using a structural
equation model to
test ultimate SNS-
>Stress->Adaptation
hypothesis

13. Methods: Exploring Everyday Uses
 The ELIS paradigm (e.g. Savolainen, McKenzie)
 Goals of Analysis:
 Elaborate uses of SNS in relation to transitional information seeking
in context
 Identify limitations of other methods employed in the study
 Proposed Procedure
 15-20 Semi-structured interviews with freshman at UNC
 Compensation: 15.00
 Exploring the following subject areas:
 Elaborating the use of SNS during information search during transition
 Understanding how search strategies are moved to the SNS
 Understanding the strengths and weaknesses of information search in SNS

14. Methodological Comparisons
 Goals
 Identify analytic weaknesses
 Explore interesting or unusual findings
 Develop and refine
model

15. Questions?
Thank you!