Why and How Do University Students Use Facebook in Everyday Life?

Abstract

The use of Facebook in everyday life has become widespread all around the world regardless of countries and cultures. The largest group of Facebook users consists of young people, particularly university students. This study investigated the attitudes of university students toward Facebook, their major reasons for using this social media application in everyday life, and the factors affecting the types of desired relationships with Facebook friends. A survey consisting of 63 items about demographics of participants and their preferences for the use of Facebook was administered to collect data. The sample of the study included 924 undergraduate students from a large public university in North Cyprus. A number of descriptive and inferential statistical techniques were employed to analyze data in relation to the research questions. Results suggested that the students generally had positive attitudes toward Facebook, although there were certain differences in terms of demographics. The primary reason for using Facebook was interpersonal communications with close friends. The most powerful factor affecting the types of relationships in Facebook was perceived quality of communication and/or socialization. Along with the other findings, implications of the results for future research were discussed.