top of page

CHAPTER 5- EXAMINATION OF HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS' MOTIVATION FOR SOCIAL MEDIA USE             113                                                                                                                                      
Mehmet Sahin SOLAK
Mehmet RAMAZANOĞLU

                                                                                            
Cite this chapter
APA


Solak, M. S., Ramazanoğlu, M. (2023). Chapter 5 Examination of High School Students' Motivation for Social Media Use. In B. L. Salvador Bizotto (Ed.), Academic Research & Reviews in Social, Human, and Administrative Sciences-III- (pp. 113-134). Ankara, Türkiye: Global Academy Publishing House. https://dx.doi.org/10.59740/academy.43

Introduction
The internet, which has been widely used in Turkey over the last thirty years, has caused the concept of distance to be redefined and viewed as a communication network. The increase in the use of the internet in individuals’ daily lives brings many opportunities. Following the strengthening of the internet infrastructure, the increase in connection speeds and the ease of access, especially with smart devices, cause individuals to spend more time on the internet (Koca & Tunca, 2020).
Looking at the development of the Internet, at first it was a one-sided, static, and limited structure (Kapan & Üncel, 2020), the emergence of Web 2.0 tools helped individuals actively participate in the system, cooperate, and interact with each other (Magnuson, 2013), share information and create an environment where they could introduce new products (Elmas & Geban, 2012), as an example web-based learning environments have been created by the development of internet and
internet technologies in educational methods (Çetin, Toytok & Korkmaz, 2015). With the development of tools offering such opportunities, individuals have been able to come together virtually and share information (Kurşun, 2017), and the high level of communication and interaction provided through social media has resulted in different social networks finding a place in daily life (Gençalp, 2019). The spread of social networks has led to an increase in the awareness of individuals in a global sense.

“According to the report of WeAreSocial in January 2022 (Kemp, 2022), which prepares reports on media activities in a global context, there are 4.62 billion social media users worldwide, which corresponds to 58.4% of the total world population, and more than half a billion people have become social media users over the last year. Likewise, mobile users, who are in high demand in terms of social media use, have increased to 5.27 billion, corresponding to approximately two-thirds of the world population. Considering social media platforms, Facebook,YouTube, WhatsApp, Instagram, WeChat, TikTok, and Facebook Messenger are the most frequently used ones, respectively.”

The studies in the literature reveal that the number of studies showing that individuals' social media use differs gradually. In general, studies focus on users' social media habits (Aslan, 2017; Kalender, 2016; Sheldon & Bryant, 2016), self-promotion, building friendships, and maintaining social relationships (Magsamen-Conrad, Billotte-Verhoff & Greene, 2014; Moon et al., 2016; Pornsakulvanich, 2017), passing time (Ök, 2013), use of social media for educational purposes and its effect (Görü-Doğan, 2014; Hançer & Mişe, 2019), motivation and attitude for use (Hançer & Mişe, 2019; Ök, 2013) with a variety of variables.

The studies on students' use of social media shown below are worth sharing here. Vural and Bat (2010) reported that seniors use the internet and have an interest in using social media, adding that apart from passing time; most of the students use social networks for the purpose of writing comments, posting videos, and sharing feelings and thoughts.
Dikme (2013) reported that social media is the main reason for using the internet among seniors and that the most commonly used social media platform is Facebook. He further suggests that students use social media to chat with their friends online and follow activities. Ramazanoğlu and Gurel (2020) concluded that teacher candidates use Facebook mainly for searching for information and maintaining communication purposes. Bostancı (2010) carried out a study with 380 university students and concluded that students generally use Facebook, a social media tool, for the purpose of monitoring their social environment and communicating with friends. Argın (2013) examined the attitudes of 735 secondary and high school students towards social media to conclude that the attitudes of the students were at a high level and that the secondary school students had higher attitudes than the high school students. Finally, Ök (2013) investigated the situations of secondary school students in the context of social media use habits and motivation and reported that social media is mostly used as a means of entertainment and passing time together.

bottom of page