Yet Dean of Freshmen Thomas A. Dingman ’67 said that when he was an undergraduate at the College—during the “dark ages,” as he referred to them—the core of the social scene was largely familiar to present-day campus life.

“There was a lot of hanging out,” he said. “People were pretty studious, but they would look forward in their free time once out of the library or once away from studying just to shoot the breeze. Oftentimes it was in your own suite.”

Similarly, Resident Dean of Ivy Yard Michael C. Ranen, who was a tutor in Winthrop House when Facebook was created, said that students in the pre-Facebook era simply used older social media services, such as MySpace and Friendster before that.

Even after Facebook was created, Ranen said, the nascent network was far from the expansive and dynamic medium that it is today.

“I would said that early use of Facebook was almost like a collection of friends,” Ranen said. “There wasn’t as much sharing going on,” he said.

ADDING MORE FRIENDS

Since that preliminary phase, Facebook has rapidly evolved, transforming the way that users can present, disseminate, and locate information about themselves, their acquaintances, and even the individuals they may never even.

This increased connectivity has shaped and continues to shape the lives of Harvard students from the moment they step foot on the Yard to well after graduation, and many Harvard affiliates say that the social network has helped foster connections and sustain relationships across the Harvard community.

For instance, last spring Facebook helped prospective students get to know each other before they arrived on campus. When a city-wide lockdown in April triggered the cancellation of Visitas, the College’s campus preview weekend, the Class of 2017 Facebook group “played a vital role” in connecting admitted College students with current students, Harvard Admissions Office spokesperson Amy A. Lavoie wrote in an email to The Crimson.

According to Lavoie, the hope is that the page, which was created by Harvard but is entirely student-driven, can allow students can get to know each other and ask questions.

Ranen, who presides over several freshman dormitories, said that he thinks the current freshman class grew closer due to the conversations and connections that took place in the Facebook group.

“They really did build their own community,” he said.

Facebook has also helped former students connect many years after their graduation. Dingman said that Facebook has helped his classmates reconnect.

“I’ve seen it with my classmates from college who have discovered one another many years after graduation,” he said. “It’s been through social media, and there’s been sort of an excitement about, ‘Well, let’s renew ties.’ Probably wouldn’t have happened if you had to dig up a first-class mailing address.”