Summary Of Why America Is Self-Segregating By Danah Boyd

College: An Unsuccessful Diversification Project
In her article, “Why America is Self-Segregating,” Danah Boyd emphasizes the importance of diversity in our social connections and explains, as members of a nation, we are segregating ourselves. Through culture, ethnicity, religion, and socioeconomic background, fragmentation is occurring daily. Boyd realizes that diversity is hard, but believes it is a crucial part of a successful democracy.
Boyd explains that while the original goal of social media may have been to connect people from different cultures and nations, its effects have been working in the opposite direction. Instead of encouraging diversity, it gives people an opportunity to separate themselves into groups. Facebook is used

From rock climbing club to chemistry club, most colleges offer it all. Colleges would claim that the purpose of these groups is to give students the chance to try new things and to meet new people. This exposes students to new cultures, religions, ethnicities, and socioeconomic backgrounds, all while broadening their social networks. I would argue that the plethora of organizations actually adds segregation to college campuses. According to Boyd, people, “look for ‘safe spaces’ and ‘culture fit.’ And systems that are ‘personalized’ are highly desirable.” In other words, instead of joining organizations to gain new knowledge and experiences, students join groups that contain members most similar to themselves. For example, college students often join a group that is specific to their religion or ethnicity and as a result, do not participate in any other organizations. I have been exposed to this process as a college student myself and have seen first-hand how students tend to associate only with fellow members of their organization. By allowing the formation of so many specific groups, colleges actually deprive students of their chances to meet and become aware of other cultures, races, ethnicities, and

Most colleges have various types of dorm rooms available to students. These rooms vary in the number of roommates, layout, and size. The dorms also vary in expense. The difference in prices is what separates the students of contrasting socioeconomic backgrounds. Colleges insist students are exposed to enough diversity around campus and the varying prices do not result in segregation of their students. Knowing from personal experience that the difference in price can be high, I would have to disagree. When applying for South Dakota State University in 2017, the difference in price between some rooms was around $1000. This amount of money may not seem like much to certain people, but for a student already entering into debt or from a low-income family, this could be a large sum. Therefore, students from low social classes are not exposed to people from upper social classes and vis versa. After college, students entering the workforce will have no ties to the other social classes and may remain segregated. When colleges put different price tags on different rooms, students self-segregate unintentionally, allowing for the gap between social classes to broaden and adding to the segregation within the United