Selim Günüç

Perceived Social Support and Facebook Use Among Adolescents

Online social networks have gained considerable popularity among adolescents, but investigations on adolescent engagement with this technology have been limited. The current study investigated adolescents’ Facebook use with regard to their perceived social support characteristics. The data were collected from 255 adolescents in two provincial state schools in Turkey. A personal information form and 12 scaled items were used to collect data. A confirmatory factor analysis was conducted on scale items and relationships between social support and Facebook use behaviors were investigated. Findings revealed that perceived social support from significant others were predicted by the time spent on Facebook. More support from actual face-to-face friends meant fewer online friends whereas more support from significant others meant more online friends. Profile and security settings varied with regard to perceived social support as well. Regardless of socioeconomic status, less family support was related with adding unknown people haphazardly, and using Internet cafA©s. Finally, less friend support was related with resorting to nicknames rather than real names. Findings are discussed accompanied with limitations of the current study and suggestions for further research.

15. Social Networks as a Communication Tool from Children’s Perpective: A Twitter Experience

Popularity and use of social networks among all ages for various purposes brings up the necessity for investigation of these networks on human psychology and interpersonal communication. As contrasted by different researchers, displacement and stimulation hypotheses arose on either side and resulted in the need for a wider examination of social networks. However, inferences neither theoretical nor practical descent alone will fail to enlighten every spot including effects of social networks on structure and wealth of the society. Thus, research is necessary to examine the influence of social networks all demographics within society, with the present chapter focusing on children. This chapter discusses the effects of social networks on lifestyles and behaviors of people both psychologically and socially by linking theory and practice. The chapter itself is comprised of two sections; the first section presents an evaluation of role of social networks on children and its use as a communication tool, while the second section presents a sample case of from the social network Twitter. The study was carried out in a private primary school in Turkey with 51 students. Use of Twitter was promoted by organizing a contest on Twitter. Communication through twitter was also promoted and experiences on use of Twitter as a communication tool are examined in detail. In terms of data collection, the study used a case study and a questionnaire, semi-structured interviews, document analysis, as well as open ended questions.. In this study, social networks were evaluated from children’s perspectives and discussed in the light of theories.