How Perceptions of College Value Play Out on Social Media
Jessica Blake
March 21, 2024
A scan of 13,000 social media comments discussing the value of going to college shows that 93 percent of them reflected negative or neutral views, a recent report finds.
The study by Campus Sonar uses a research methodology known as social listening or social intelligence to expand the analysis of public views on the value of higher education.
The findings largely reinforce a trend observed in other more traditional survey-based reports: that confidence in the value of a college degree is declining. But Liz Gross, founder and chief executive officer of Campus Sonar, said the study adds a new level of depth.
“We don’t just have a yes or no … answer to a question, we have the full context in which people are expressing experiences or beliefs related to the topic that we’re studying,” Gross said. “So even though there was a strong, negative or neutral bent to the conversation, we were able to dive into the context qualitatively and see where there are bright spots.”
