Hi, I’m a high school senior who will attend UNC-Chapel Hill in the fall. I have a few friends who are also going to UNC but I don’t want to room with them because I want to meet new people, etc. So, I was wondering, current college students, which do you prefer, getting a random roommate when you apply for housing or meeting someone on social media and rooming with them? I am completely confused, please help 
My advice would be to meet someone through the accepted student facebook page or through a roommate selection website. That way you can find someone who shares common interests and you can talk to them before agreeing to room with them. Some people have success with random roommates and some don’t, but meeting someone beforehand eliminates some of the risk!
Keep in mind, though, that even if you “meet” someone through Facebook, they may not be the ideal roommate for you or they may seem completely different in real life. A friend of mine met his roommate via Facebook and they hit it off so well. When they met in real life, however, my friend discovered that his roommate is a huge partier (my friend is not) who never once took a shower during the semester (no joke), never did his laundry, etc.
^ This is also a good point. I actually decided to room with my best friend from high school, but that is usually frowned upon. It ended up working out great for us but that is not usually the case, and you seem to already be aware of that!
I went random just so that if it does not work out, I can blame the system instead of myself for picking the wrong person.
Do you a freshman orientation over the summer? If so, I’d go to it and chat-up as many of the other incoming-freshman as possible. You could get a pretty good idea of who they are as a person. As far as roommate stuff, things like general hygiene might be apparent, but you can always ask about their intentions to party, study habits, etc.
Personally, I suggest you go random or at least try to meet your potential roommate at a orientation or some other event that your school offers. I found my roommate through Facebook and for the most part we got along. However, she was incredibly clingy. I mean I would get texts from her daily over the summer before we started school. Sometimes about 10 a day. It was crazy. She always needed to know what I was doing and it made me uncomfortable. I would use caution when picking a roomie. Best of luck! Remember you don’t have to be best friends with your roommate, you just have to be courteous to one another to co-habitate in the same space.