Keywords

1 Introduction

Since it was established in 2004 initially for Harvard University students, Facebook has reached over 2.2 billion active users worldwide and become the most popular social networking site (Facebook 2018). Facebook has not only penetrated 83% of the total social media users, but also has become the most actively used social networking site with 56% of its users going online daily (Mander 2014). Social networking tools that keep evolving to adopt to the needs of its users and changes of the era have always posed as interesting research fields (Lewis et al. 2008). The worldwide popularity of Facebook along with the penetration rates and time spent on Facebook, and the number of Facebook applications and products show that Facebook drastically impacts the way people interact and communicate. For these reasons, Facebook is utilized for a variety of purposes extending its primary purpose—socialization. Therefore, researchers in various areas including public security, business, politics, health and education have directed their attention towards Facebook (Saykili and Genç Kumtepe 2014). Although news bulletins have been published as to negative Facebook impact in educational settings (Newcomb 2013; O’Toole 2010; USA Today 2013), Facebook and similar social networking sites are extensively used by students and instructors not only for socializing purposes, but also for educational, which has prompted researchers to explore its use for educational purposes (Madhusudhan 2012).

This article aims to review the current research studies focusing on the utility of Facebook in educational settings providing a comparison between the global and the Turkish contexts. This research review firstly reports students’ Facebook usage profile such as (a) reasons for using Facebook, (b) the amount of time spent on Facebook, (c) the kind of personal information shared on Facebook and (d) students’ privacy and security awareness on Facebook. Furthermore, this study explores both educational benefits and concerns highlighted by the current literature regarding Facebook use in educational settings focusing on a comparison of the global and the Turkish contexts.

1.1 Educational Use of Facebook Within the Turkish Context

With its 46 million active users, Facebook has reached almost all Internet users and more than half of the total population (Internet World Stats 2017). The Europe Digital Future report shows that over 90% of overall Internet users (over 21 million users) in Turkey accessed Facebook in December 2012 alone and these users have spent more than 500 h and navigated more than 1000 pages on Facebook, which demonstrates that Facebook has become one of the most popular social networking sites in Turkey (Comscore 2013). Among the reasons for high penetration rates in Turkey are celebrity presence on Facebook, tags on photographs with old friends, Facebook applications developed uniquely for users in Turkey, groups for social causes (Toprak et al. 2009). On the other hand, Mazman (2009) reports that factors such as user-friendliness, social impact and community tools contribute to the high number of users in Turkey.

Research in Turkish context reveals that individuals in Turkey carry their offline relationships and communication into Facebook (Acır 2008; Saykili 2014). A number of researches in the Turkish context also show that the majority of students use Facebook with ease and spend a considerable amount of time on Facebook (Atal 2010; Belin and Yıldız 2011; Bicen and Cavus 2011; Deniz 2012; Ergenç 2011; TİB 2011; Ucun 2012; Vural and Bat 2010). Facebook’s high penetration rates among students and the amount of time students spend on Facebook have drawn educational researchers’ attention in Turkey as well. The Turkish Higher Educational council records reveal that of the 140 dissertations carried on Facebook, 37 were carried out in the field of education, and of the 37 dissertations 33 are Master’s theses and 4 are doctoral dissertations. The number of dissertations in higher education settings is 19 while 14 dissertations were done in K12 settings, 1 in pre-school and 1 in workplace learning and finally 1 in adult learning. This research review firstly reports students’ Facebook usage profile such as (a) reasons for using Facebook, (b) the amount of time spent on Facebook, (c) the kind of personal information shared on Facebook and (d) students’ privacy and security awareness on Facebook. Furthermore, this study explores both educational benefits and concerns highlighted by the current literature regarding Facebook use in educational settings focusing on a comparison of global and Turkish contexts.

2 Methodology

This research review aims to report students’ Facebook profiles and investigate both the educational benefits and concerns highlighted by the current literature regarding Facebook use in educational settings focusing on a comparison of global and Turkish contexts. Content analysis of the published research papers has been utilized for this purpose. EBSCO research database was used for the publications both in the global and the Turkish contexts. Moreover, the Turkish dissertation centre (tez.yok.gov.tr) was searched for dissertations published in Turkey. Also, snowball technique was used to identify additional research papers through scanning the reference lists of the reviewed articles. A total of 80 research articles including dissertations were reviewed, and the results are provided in the following sections.

3 Students’ Facebook Usage Profiles

Research concerning Facebook use for educational purposes focus on a number of usage profiles including students’ reasons for using Facebook, time spent on Facebook, number of friends, personal information shared, students’ privacy and security awareness on Facebook. The results of our analysis of studies in both global and the Turkish contexts revealed similar findings. In other words, students both worldwide and in Turkey have similar Facebook usage profiles. However, while the global context reports that students use Facebook for activist purposes, the literature in the Turkish context does not report such finding.

3.1 Reasons for Using Facebook

Research both in the global and the Turkish contexts shows that students prefer to use Facebook for the following reasons:

To Keep in Touch with Acquaintances

Research report that students prefer to add friends and family members who they are already familiar with in real life. In other words, students tend to carry their relationships in real life onto the online social platforms (Acır 2008; Atal 2010; Bicen and Cavus 2011; Bosch 2009; Deniz 2012; Hew 2011; Ellison et al. 2007; Joinson 2008; Lampe et al. 2006; Lewis et al. 2008; Liu 2010; Masrom and Usat 2013; Pempek et al. 2009; Roblyer et al. 2010; Selwyn 2009, 2007; Sheldon 2008a; Sponcil and Gitimu 2013).

To Introduce/Express Themselves

Students choose to introduce themselves on Facebook through sharing personal details such as age, location, favourite music, film and/or books. They also tend to express themselves through status updates (Çam 2012; Dikme 2013; Joinson 2008; Pempek et al. 2009; Lampe et al. 2006). Research also suggests that personal information shared on Facebook largely complies with students’ personal details in real life (Deniz 2012; Hew 2011; Pempek et al. 2009; Lampe et al. 2006).

To Meet New People

Research reports that, though relatively few in number, students also meet new people on Facebook (Ellison et al. 2007; Hew 2011; Karal and Kokoc 2013; Lampe et al. 2006; Sheldon 2008b; Ucun 2012; Urista et al. 2009; Zhao et al. 2008) and they tend to use Facebook to collect information about people they are not familiar with in real life, and to find romantic and/or sexual partners (Kobak and Biçer 2008; Lampe et al. 2006; Tınmaz 2011). Besides, research also reveals that students are reluctant to add unfamiliar people and they do not prefer to make new friends on Facebook (Çam 2012; Lampe et al. 2006; Pempek et al. 2009; Selwyn 2007). However, Lampe et al. (2006) note that 69% of the students surveyed report that they do not mind making friends with people who they are not acquainted in real life. Yet, it is important to highlight several researches reveal that students do not opt to add faculty members as Facebook friends (Kıcı 2012; Lampe et al. 2006, 2011; Madge et al. 2009; Ophus and Abbitt 2009). It would be worthwhile for future research to explore the reasons why students choose to refrain from making friends with the faculty members.

For Academic Purposes

Even though research shows that students view Facebook as a socialization tool and do not prefer to mingle Facebook with the academic scene (Connell 2009; Göker et al. 2010; Madge et al. 2009), a number of researches reveal that students use Facebook for academic purposes in addition to social (Bosch 2009; Bostancı 2010; Çam 2012; Hew 2011; Kobak and Biçer 2008; Mendez et al. 2009; Roblyer et al. 2010; Selwyn 2009). Students are reported to generally make use of Facebook for logistical purposes for academic courses such as sharing/finding practical information as to the location and time of the courses, details on assignments, exchanging ideas, lesson notes and course projects, and contacting the faculty member for questions and suggestions relating to the course (Bosch 2009; Çam 2012; Ucun 2012). On the other hand, research studying the student interactions of Facebook demonstrates that very few of these interactions are related to educational purposes (Kolek and Saunders 2008; Madge et al. 2009; Mazer et al. 2009; Pempek et al. 2009; Selwyn 2009).

For Organizational Purposes

Students are reported to use Facebook for sharing, restoring and organizing contact details including email addresses, phone numbers, birthdays in addition to photograph and video albums (Dikme 2013; Gross and Acquisti 2005). Moreover, students use Facebook to organize or find out about events (parties, meetings, etc.) (Hew 2011; Lampe et al. 2006; Ucun 2012).

To Pass Time

Research also shows that students opt to use Facebook to pass time playing games, watching videos, browsing photographs and chatting (Belin and Yıldız 2011; Hew 2011; Joinson 2008; Pempek et al. 2009; Sheldon 2008a; Kalaman 2011; Karal and Kokoc 2013).

For Activist Purposes

Students use Facebook to share and express opinions, organize and/or find out about events for social causes (Bosch 2009; Essig 2014; Hew 2011). For instance, students are reported to have used Facebook to increase voting awareness in Cape Town University (Bosch 2009).

To Increase their Popularity/Because it is Fun and Cool

Research suggests that students view the number of Facebook friends, comments on photographs and posts as indicators for popularity (Hew 2011; Urista et al. 2009). Therefore, students tend to use Facebook as a tool to increase their popularity. Research also reveals that students prefer to use Facebook because they think it is fun and cool (Hew 2011; Lewis and West 2009; Pempek et al. 2009; Sheldon 2008a; Tınmaz 2011).

3.2 Time Spent on Facebook

Research report that students spend around 10–60 min on Facebook daily (Balaman and Karataş 2012; Christofides et al. 2009; Impraim 2012; Joinson 2008; Karal and Kokoc 2013; Lampe et al. 2006; Pempek et al. 2009; Sheldon 2008a; Ross et al. 2009; Stern and Taylor 2007; TİB 2011; Valenzuela et al. 2009). Besides, research shows that females compared to males (Muise et al. 2009) and young people compared to elders (Joinson 2008; Kolek and Saunders 2008; Pempek et al. 2009) spend more time on Facebook. Research also reveals that students tend to use Facebook less when they are away from keyboard at the weekend (Golder et al. 2007). Therefore, this finding suggests that for the students in this particular study the time on Facebook overlaps with their time on computer and students prefer time-pass activities other than Facebook (Golder et al. 2007).

3.3 Number of Facebook Friends

Research reveals that on average, students have around 150–350 Facebook friends (Christofides et al. 2009; Ellison et al. 2007; Golder et al. 2007; Lewis and West 2009; Muise et al. 2009; TİB 2011). In addition to friending acquaintances in real life on Facebook, students also prefer to friend people with whom they share weak ties such as adding friend of a friend (Boyd 2006). Although students choose to friend real-life close friends on Facebook, they act reluctantly when it comes to friending family members particularly parents on Facebook (Bosch 2009; Lampe et al. 2006; West et al. 2009). It is reported that among the reasons for this reluctance are shyness, social norms, refraining from self-disclosure (West et al. 2009). In addition, although students might have Facebook friends from different racial backgrounds, they tend to friend people of similar racial background (Bosch 2009). According to Boyd and Ellison (2008), individuals with similar racial and linguistic backgrounds prefer to stay together in social networking sites. Research also suggests that students might friend other people they think will prove to be a social capital by, for instance, helping out for an assignment (Ellison et al. 2007).

Research investigating the relationship between number of Facebook friends and personality traits reveals contradicting results (Hew 2011). While Ross et al. (2009) do not report a relationship between extraverts and number of Facebook friends, Acar (2008) concludes that extraverts both have a larger number of friends and spend more time on Facebook. On the other hand, Tong et al. (2008) suggest that students with exceptional number of friends might have gathered these friends due to reasons other than character traits such as popularity concerns. However, research reports negative correlation between shyness and number of friends on Facebook (Orr et al. 2009). Research also reveals that students who report being anxious in face-to-face communication have fewer number of Facebook friends (Sheldon 2008b).

Female students, compared to male students, are reported to have significantly larger number of Facebook friends (Pempek et al. 2009). Research suggest that the reason is that while male students prefer to friend primarily female students, female students tend to friend both male and female students regardless of gender (Hew 2011; Wang et al. 2010). Research also shows that students with more personal details on their Facebook profiles have relatively larger number of Facebook friends (Lampe et al. 2007). Sharing personal details on Facebook helps connect with individuals with similar characteristics, therefore it makes sense that individuals with more personal information have larger number of friends on Facebook.

3.4 Personal Information Shared on Facebook

Research highlights that students think they share more personal information on Facebook compared to other online platforms (Christofides et al. 2009), which reveals that students might be susceptible to potential security risks (Hew 2011). Research shows that personal information shared on Facebook reveals true information of students’ real lives (Deniz 2012; Lampe et al. 2006; Pempek et al. 2009; Stern and Taylor 2007; Young and Quan-Haase 2009). Research suggests that students provide true personal information on Facebook because they feel the false information they provide will be questioned by their peers (Young and Quan-Haase 2009).

Research reveals that a majority of students provide their real names and surnames on Facebook (TİB 2011; Young and Quan-Haase 2009). The kind of information students particularly share is:

  • birthday

  • email

  • hometown/city

  • relationship status

  • interests and hobbies

  • school (Christofides et al. 2009; TİB 2011; Young and Quan-Haase 2009).

On the other hand, students are found to refrain from sharing home/mobile phone numbers and home addresses (Christofides et al. 2009; Ellison et al. 2007; Young and Quan-Haase 2009; TİB 2011; Zhao et al. 2008).

Even though research reports no relationship between Facebook usage frequency and the amount of personal information shared on Facebook (Young and Quan-Haase 2009), there appears to be a positive correlation between the size of the social circle and the amount of information shared on Facebook (Young and Quan-Haase 2009). In addition, research shows that the desire to increase popularity causes students to share more personal information on Facebook (Christofides et al. 2009).

3.5 Students’ Privacy and Security Awareness

Facebook allows users to have a safe and secure online social networking experience through its privacy and security settings. Facebook provides users with the required tools that will enable them to have extensive control over their Facebook profile, the personal information and content they share through applications on Facebook. However, studies concerning students’ use of privacy and security settings on Facebook reveal inconclusive results (Hew 2011; TİB 2011). Kolek and Saunders (2008) found that a large per cent of students (89%) preferred to restrict the visibility of their Facebook profiles. Pempek et al. (2009), on the other hand, report that more than half of the students (62%) keep their profiles visible to everyone in their Facebook network. However, research reveal that students consciously organize Facebook privacy and security settings to set visibility restrictions for their personal information (Joinson 2008; Young and Quan-Haase 2009). Moreover, research shows that female students are more cautious towards privacy and security settings and they prefer a private user account (Joinson 2008; Lewis et al. 2008; Madhusudhan 2012; Smith and Caruso 2010; Wang et al. 2010).

4 Educational Facebook

Research into the utility of Facebook in educational settings primarily focuses on benefits that might be gained and concerns that might arise during use. As to the educational benefits and concerns, our analysis showed that both the global and the Turkish contexts report similar findings. Benefits in both the global and the Turkish contexts include providing an informal learning environment and collaborative learning opportunities as well as improving student–student and student–instructor relationships. In addition, research both in the global and the Turkish reports that students gather logistical information on courses and use Facebook to help ease their transition into campus life.

4.1 Benefits

Research in both the global and the Turkish contexts lists the following educational benefits for the utility of Facebook in educational settings.

Providing an Informal Learning Environment

A number of research reveals that in addition to being a socialization tool, Facebook has the potential to provide an informal learning environment for students (Cain and Policastri 2011; Demirel 2012; Grosseck et al. 2011; Lampe et al. 2011; Madge et al. 2009; Saykili 2014; Towner and Munoz 2011). As students immerse themselves into college life, they tend to make use of Facebook as an informal learning tool through organizing project study groups, accessing and reviewing course material, initiating discussions related to course topics, and sharing and/or accessing course related information such as location and time of the courses (Madge et al. 2009). Within this regard, Facebook serves as an informal learning tool in addition to being a socialization tool. Research also reveals that Facebook has the potential to provide the learners with the means and the platform to reach experts within the field of study (Cain and Policastri 2011). Students could be exposed to real-life situations through accessing and communicating field experts on Facebook (Cain and Policastri 2011; Saykili 2014; Towner and Munoz 2011). Research concludes that students are satisfied with the informal learning activities on Facebook and the informal nature of the Facebook interactions contribute to success in educational settings (Cain and Policastri 2011; Isacsson and Gretzel 2011; Towner and Munoz 2011).

Providing Collaborative Learning Opportunities

Several researches conclude that Facebook can prove to be an online platform for collaborative learning opportunities (Durusoy 2011; Goodband et al. 2011; Isacsson and Gretzel 2011; Kıcı 2012; Lampe et al. 2011; Muñoz and Towner 2011; Saykili 2014; Smith and Caruso 2010). Research also reports that the frequency with which students use Facebook increases the possibility for students to utilize the environment as a community of learning for their academic studies (Lampe et al. 2011). Research also highlights that the time students spend and the number of friends they gather on Facebook point towards collaborative learning opportunities. The advancing Facebook skills of both students and instructors might help them to view and utilize the environment for collaborative learning in addition to socialization purposes (Lampe et al. 2011; Muñoz and Towner 2011).

Improving Student–Instructor Relationships

Research also underscores Facebook’s potential role to improve the relationship between students and instructors (Bosch 2009; Chu and Meulemans 2008; Çam 2012; Dahlstrom et al. 2011; Madge et al. 2009; Mazer et al. 2009; Muñoz and Towner 2011; Li and Pitts 2009; Saykili 2014; Towner and Munoz 2011). Bosch (2009) concludes that after they interact with instructors on Facebook, students find it easier to engage in face-to-face communication with the instructors. Because Facebook could be viewed as a neutral space controlled by neither the instructor nor the student, traditional power distance between the instructor and the student might no longer pose a barrier for initiation of dialogue (Bosch 2009). In addition, research found that self-disclosure by the instructor on Facebook increases the credibility and trust students feel towards the instructor (Mazer et al. 2009). Virtual Office hours organized on Facebook offer a flexibility of contact and extension of learning opportunities beyond classroom hours, which particularly distance learners appreciate (Li and Pitts 2009). Research also reveals that students gather information on instructor’s pedagogical characteristics, teaching style and as well as grading strategies on Facebook (Lampe et al. 2011). Consequently, instructor–student interaction on this informal platform has a positive impact on the learning processes.

Improving Student–Student Relationship

Research concludes that educational use of Facebook might strengthen the bond between students (Çam 2012; Dahlstrom et al. 2011; Goodband et al. 2011; Muñoz and Towner 2011; Saykili 2014). Students help and support each other creating a Facebook special interest group for the course (Muñoz and Towner 2011). Furthermore, unlike the traditional online communication channels such as email, Facebook with its detailed profile pages help increase social presence of students improving their images as real personas particularly in distance learning programs. This allows for more personalized student–student and student–instructor interactions beyond the scope of traditional learning management systems (Muñoz and Towner 2011).

Gathering Information About the Course

Students are reported to gather logistical information on courses such as the location and time of the course, assignment details and lesson notes (Bosch 2009; Chu and Meulemans 2008; Çam 2012; Grosseck et al. 2011; Lampe et al. 2011; Towner and Munoz 2011; Roblyer et al. 2010; Selwyn 2009; Smith and Caruso 2010). Research highlights that students particularly seek information about course projects on Facebook during holidays (Bosch 2009; Goodband et al. 2011; Selwyn 2009).

Easing Orientation into the Academic and Campus Life

Research pinpoints that Facebook has become a powerful social tool that eases students’ orientation into academic and campus life (Ergenç 2011; Madge et al. 2009). Students report that they find it useful to be a member of certain Facebook college groups for a wide range of reasons including trading coursebooks, finding flatmates, getting updates on campus events,etc. (Bosch 2009; Dikme 2013; Pan et al. 2009; Selwyn 2009).

4.2 Concerns

Research highlights some concerns for the utility of Facebook for educational purposes. The primary reported concern for security and privacy in both the global and the Turkish contexts is cyber-bullying. In addition, among the administrative and pedagogical concerns are distraction from academic studies, crossing professional boundaries, computer literacy levels and Facebook penetration rates (though high) not reaching 100% of students. Some of these concerns have even triggered educational administrations to ban the access to Facebook within school facilities in both the global and the Turkish contexts.

Security and Privacy Concerns

Facebook user profile includes personal information that might pose grave dangers if seized by evil-minded people (Towner and Munoz 2011). Considering that students share true personal information (Lampe et al. 2006; Pempek et al. 2009; Saykili 2014; Stern and Taylor 2007; Young and Quan-Haase 2009), students are susceptible to identity theft and cyber-bullying risks (Acır 2008; Beger et al. 2011; Gross and Acquisti 2005; Madhusudhan 2012; Saykili 2014;). Sharing inappropriate comments by students about the instructors and school, posting pictures, videos and other content might require disciplinary action against the student (Muñoz and Towner 2011). Due to these and similar posts, students are reported to receive disciplinary punishments to the extent of expulsion from school (Friedman 2008; Protalinski 2011; Reilly 2013; Smith and Blanchard 2008; WLS 2010). In addition, research shows that students get more and more cautious about their privacy and security and employ stricter measures (Muñoz and Towner 2011). Research shows that most students are aware of the security and privacy settings and opt to restrict access to their personal profiles (Salaway et al. 2008; Smith and Caruso 2010).

Administrative Concerns

Some educational institutions have sought to restrict or ban access to Facebook within their facilities and Internet networks due to potential virus and spam risks, overloading the school Internet network, causing distraction and stealing from study time (Balaman and Karataş 2012; Bosch 2009; Chapman et al. 2012; Conlin 2011; Iyer 2013; Madhusudhan 2012; Milliyet 2014). Some schools have also chosen to ban instructors from friending students on Facebook in order to prevent inappropriate teacher–student relationships (Milliyet 2010; Protalinski 2012; Popkin 2011). On the other hand, research reveals that very few number of schools have developed policies towards the use of social media within educational premises (Muñoz and Towner 2011). However, it is also reported that the number of schools developing social media policies is on the increase (Junco 2011; Muñoz and Towner 2011). In addition, Facebook collaborates with non-governmental institutions such as iKeepSafe and the American School Counselor Association to increase social media awareness and develop policies to regulate social media use within educational premises (Facebook 2013; iKeepSafe/ASCA 2013).

Causing Distraction

Research warns that Facebook might harm the academic experience of students causing distraction from their studies (Ergenç 2011; Kokoç and Çiçek 2011; Madge et al. 2009; Madhusudhan 2012; TİB 2011). It is reported that students spend valuable academic time on Facebook which they are supposed to use for their educational studies (Madge et al. 2009; Madhusudhan 2012) and that students even ignore their daily routines because of Facebook (Ergenç 2011).

Crossing Professional Boundaries

The content shared openly on Facebook has the potential to reach huge numbers of people, which, in some certain situations, might mean crossing professional boundaries (Muñoz and Towner 2011). In some cases, students have faced disciplinary action and even serious punishments because they shared inappropriate, unprofessional and illegal content with people they were not supposed to (CNNTurk 2010; Lipka 2007; Sarrio and Bazar 2010). On the other hand, instructors also have faced similar charges because of unprofessional and negative content/comments they post about the administrators and the school (Young 2009). Another challenge for the instructors is whether to friend students on Facebook or not (Muñoz and Towner 2011) because of the risk of crossing professional boundaries. Therefore, some institutions have opted to take precautions to prevent unprofessional relationships between students and instructors (Popkin 2011; Protalinski 2012).

Students’ Computer Literacy and Facebook Penetration Rates

Although research demonstrates that a good majority of students use Facebook, the penetration rate has never been reported as 100%, which shows that some students still do not use Facebook (Bicen and Cavus 2011; Bosch 2009; Ellison et al. 2007; Hew 2011; Joinson 2008; Lampe et al. 2006; Lewis et al. 2008; Liu 2010; Masrom and Usat 2013; Pempek et al. 2009; Saykili 2014; Selwyn 2009, 2007; Sheldon 2008a; Sponcil and Gitimu 2013; Roblyer et al. 2010). Students prefer not to use Facebook due to personal reasons or because of concerns stated above (Cain and Policastri 2011). Therefore, any technological intervention requiring the utility of Facebook as an educational tool puts these students into a disadvantageous condition. Students who stay away from Facebook due to privacy and security concerns will not be able to benefit from the educational advantages particularly if the educational Facebook activities are rewarded with credits/grades as a part of assessment processes of the course (Cain and Policastri 2011). Other research also warns that students with lower computer literacy levels might not benefit to the full degree of the educational activities carried out on Facebook (Bosch 2009). For this reason, any technology integration involving Facebook use for educational purposes should take into account the students with lower computer literacy levels or even students who prefer not to have a Facebook account.

5 Conclusion

Facebook, as the leading social networking site, has also long penetrated the educational scene. Educational researchers, therefore, have sought to explore the impact and the implications of Facebook in educational settings through the perspectives of student, teacher and administration. These researchers have also attempted to investigate whether Facebook could be utilized as an educational tool. In addition to mapping students’ Facebook usage profile, research reveals both benefits and concerns for the utility of Facebook as an educational tool. This particular research review explores both educational benefits and concerns highlighted by the current literature regarding Facebook use in educational settings focusing on a comparison of the global and the Turkish contexts. Research in both the global and the Turkish contexts demonstrate similar findings in that research in both contexts report benefits including providing an informal and collaborative learning environment, improving student–student and student–instructor relationship, accessing logistical information on the course and easing orientation into academic and campus life. On the other hand, research raises concerns such as security and privacy concerns, academic concerns including causing distraction, professional concerns such as overstepping professional boundaries, administrative concerns and finally student computer literacy and Facebook access issues.