Weeding Out Roommates on Facebook

Aug. 15, 2007 — -- As the school year approaches and students prepare to head to college, many anxiously await news of their roommates. They wonder about their compatibility and even cleanliness.

But the days of awkward freshmen introductions in a dorm room may be ending, as many people are logging onto the social networking site Facebook.com to learn about their roommates.

Students say it's good to know a roommate before actually meeting the person. And now, even curious parents are sneaking peaks at profiles.

"I was excited," said Kristin Mueller, the parent of a college freshman. "I was anxious to find out more about her new roommate."

But it's not always love at first surf for parents.

"What I saw on Facebook was a lot of alcoholic beverages in the background, a lot of liquor bottles, beer bottles, kind of lewd behavior," Mueller said.

Mueller took action by helping her daughter file a formal request to the college's housing office demanding a change. She isn't the first parent to do so.

Across the country college administrators said they are getting more pleas than ever from Facebook frazzled parents.

"They call based on the information that they see on Facebook and they say that their son or their daughter can't possibly live with that person," said Deb DiCaprio, Marist College's dean of students.

Syracuse University has formulated a response to such a request.

"Our response to that is, we do not move students. We do not discriminate at all," said Syracuse University housing director Robin Berkowtiz-Smith.

Most schools do not allow roommate changes until after the start of the school year. Some, like the University of Wisconsin, warn incoming freshman about judging their peers based on social networking images.

But Mueller was determined to switch her daughter's assignment, even when her initial request was denied. She printed out 44 pages from the prospective roommate's Facebook profiles and took them to the university. The school finally granted a change.