Why do Gamers Use Facebook? A Study on Social Network Game Members in Turkey

Social network websites such as Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, MySpace which came out with purposes of sharing of personal information, photographs and videos have attracted the attention of the users for being user friendly and providing fast update and sharing. Facebook has become an integral part of daily lives of its users in a short time because of its technological and social features. The aim of this research is to investigate the purposes of social network game members on Facebook use with respect to variables of gender, age, educational status, frequency and duration of Facebook use. The participants of the research were 1916 members of a popular social network game on Facebook called Capitalism which has more than eighty thousand active Turkish members monthly. Members were requested to respond the data collection tool which was presented online at the beginning of the Capitalism game. Personal Information Form and Purpose of Facebook Use Scale which was developed by Mazman (2009) were used for data collection instrument. The data which were normally distributed were analyzed through descriptive statistics and quantitative data analysis methods. According to results of the research, Facebook was used most frequently for “daily use” and “social relations”. Also Facebook was used least frequently for “support to studies and courses” by the participants. Findings revealed that several background variables influenced purpose of Facebook use, including: gender, age, educational status, frequency and duration of Facebook use. It was found statistically significant difference on “social relations” and “use for studies” in terms of gender. Observed age and educational status differences varied according to “social relations” and “use for studies”. Observed frequency and duration of Facebook use differences varied according to “social relations” and “daily use”.


INTRODUCTION
According to statistics in the year ending December 2013, it is estimated that around 40 % of world population and 46 % of Turkish population has an Internet connection (Internet World Stats, 2014). Social networks which are the innovations of Web 2.0 that can be defined as technologies consisting of second generation technologies in Internet context have been increasingly popular in Turkey as in all over the world. According to research conducted by Salaway and Nelson (2008), quantitative and qualitative data gathered from the 27317 undergraduate students from 98 institutions. Research results revealed that "Net Generation" students actively use multiple modes of IT to communicate, socialize, and stay connected with others; they choose mobile technologies and use visual media; and they take advantage of Web 2.0 technologies to express themselves on the Internet in varied and creative ways. Boyd and Ellison (2007) defines social networks as application series of grouping information exchange, increasing group interaction, social connections and the shared area for cooperation in web context. Yuen andYuen (2008, as cited in Mazman, 2009) pointed out that social networks used by the students for sharing digital media, asking questions within the framework of the common views and ideas, sharing documents related to the courses, establishing work groups and communicating with classmates.
Social network sites such as Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, MySpace which came out with purposes of sharing of personal information, photographs and videos have attracted the attention of the users for being user friendly and providing fast update and sharing. Facebook users can send messages each other, share photos, tag the people and make comments on the photos, write on the walls of their friends, join the groups and make their own groups, join the activities, add several activities and play games. The users can easily interact with each other and content with the help of several applications. Facebook has become important part of daily lives of individuals in a short time because of its technological and social features.
The number of Facebook users worldwide has reached 1.2 billion. In Turkey, there are 36 million active Facebook accounts including the fake ones. Turkish users spend approximately 2 hours 32 minutes in social networks in a day. Facebook is the most commonly used social network in Turkey (93 %) following Twitter (72 %), Google+ (70 %), and LinkedIn (33 %) (Global Digital Statistics, 2014).
According to research about Facebook, a random sample of 800 undergraduate students was sent an email invitation but a total of 286 (36 %) students completed the online survey. The purposes of Facebook use, number of friends and profile sharing were examined by factor analysis (Ellison, Steinfield & Lampe, 2007).
Grant (2008( , as cited in Mazman, 2009) stated that social networks such as Facebook, MySpace, Youtube, Weblogs and Wiki are mostly used by adolescents and young adults talk about themselves and introduce themselves to others as an extension of their daily lives rather than for the purpose of research and getting information. Grant (2008, as cited in Mazman, 2009) also pointed out that due to large number of social network users teachers use these tools as a different way of communication and provide the students participating through social network sites. Martin (2009) conducted a research evaluating the relationship between 1127 university students' social networks use and their academic achievements. Accordingly, it can be concluded that there is no correlation between the amount of time students spend using social media and their grades. Also students use social networks most frequently for social reasons and entertainment and least frequently for educational and professional reasons. On the other hand, Toğay, Akdur, Yetişken and Bilici (2013) conducted a research about the use of social networks in education process providing 60 university students between the ages 18 and 25 with education support in a social network environment. When the responses of students were examined it was found that support of social media in education process facilitated, developed and affected learning process positively.
Social networks have the features of improving communication skills of students and teachers, expanding participation, reinforcing peer support and achieving collaborative learning (Edudemic, 2012). In this context, several studies can be carried out on the use of social networks in educational activities by determining the purpose of Facebook use of social utility members.

AIM
The aim of this research is to investigate the purposes of social network game members on Facebook use with regard to variables of gender, age, educational status, frequency of Facebook use and duration of Facebook use.

Model
Since this research investigated the purposes of Facebook use of social network game players in terms of several variables, it was designed based on a baseline descriptive survey model. According to Karasar (2005), survey models are research approaches which aim at describing a past or present phenomenon as it is. In such study model, no intervention on the researched phenomenon, object or individual is conducted; only the prevailing issue is found.

Participants
Participants of the research were 1916 members of a popular social network game on Facebook called Capitalism which has more than eighty thousand active Turkish members monthly. Most of the participants were males (93.4 %) and between the ages of 18 and 25 (49.9 %). Great numbers of the participants were the graduates of high school or university (85.2 %). The majority of participants logged into Facebook a few times a day (86.8 %). With regard to use of Facebook duration most of the participants stayed connected to Facebook more than three hours (36 %).

Data Collection
Members were requested to respond the data collection tool which was presented online at the beginning of the Capitalism game and credit was given to respondents to spend in the game. Members were informed that they were free to leave the research when they wanted. 84 (4 %) of the data collection tools out of 2000 were not taken into evaluation in the analysis process as they were not filled properly.
Personal Information Form and Purpose of Facebook Use Scale were used as data collection instruments. Gender, age, educational status, frequency of Facebook use and duration of Facebook use were identified through Personal Information Form. Purpose of Facebook Use Scale which was developed by Mazman (2009) was used to determine the purposes Facebook use of the participants. After author's permission, it was used directly. The scale consisted of 11 items, 3 factors (social relations, use for studies, daily use) presented in a five point Likert type scale (never, rarely, sometimes, often, and always).
In Mazman's scale (2009) which was conducted on 606 participants, Cronbach's Alpha internal consistency coefficient was .793. Three factors were called as social relations, use for studies and daily use.
In the direction of the data that were collected from the participants, Cronbach's Alpha internal consistency coefficient of the current research was calculated as .814. Internal consistency coefficients regarding the factors were .728 for social relations, .802 for use for studies and .855 for daily use. Obtained internal consistency coefficient values are said to be quite reliable when it was estimated with regard to ranges as Özdamar (2004) suggested.
Frequency and percentage distribution were used for the total scores regarding purpose of Facebook use and demographic information of the participants. The views of purpose of Facebook use of social utility members were tested with regard to independent variables. Obtained data were analyzed through quantitative data analysis methods with SPSS 16.0 software.

Data Analysis
It was tested whether data were distributed normally or not for the convenience of test statistics on the scores gathered from the scale. When a histogram and Q-Q plot graphics were examined, it was found that curve had symmetric distribution. Descriptive statistics of total scores were shown in Table 1. According to Büyüköztürk (2011), if the value of mean, median and mode are close to each other and if the values of Skewness and Kurtosis are between -1 and +1, it can be said that scores are distributed normally and parametric tests can be used. Thus, as a result of normality tests, it was found that the data which was collected from the scale distributed normally and parametric statistical methods were used in analysis.
In the direction of the data which was collected from the scale the purpose of Facebook use of the participants were identified and compared with several variables. Independent sample t-test was carried out for difference with regard to gender and ANOVA was used for the differences with regard to the variables which have more than two subgroups. In all the analysis significance level was taken .05.

Findings on the Purpose of Facebook Use
When the mean scores of the participants were investigated as shown in Table 2, it was found that Facebook was most commonly used for daily use (X =3.64) and social relations (X =2.99) and least commonly used for use for studies (X =2.26). In the factor of social relations, Facebook was mostly used for communication with friends (X =3.83) and to share information and resources with friends (X =3.43). Facebook was least commonly used to make friends and to find out people and join the groups having common interests and necessities with the other. In the factor of use for studies, the use of Facebook for the purpose of sharing homework and projects with friends (X =2.33) are more than those who used Facebook for the purpose of support to the lessons (X =2.19). In the factor of daily use, participants used Facebook mostly to follow the latest information. According to these results Facebook was mostly used to communicate friends and to be informed about the daily developments and least commonly used to make new friends and for the purpose of support to the lessons. When the scores of the males and females were examined as shown in Table 3, in the factor of social relations statistically significant differences were found according to results of t-test [t (1916) =3.394; p<.01; η 2 =.006]. It can be concluded that males use Facebook more than for the purpose of social relations.

Findings on the Purpose of Facebook Use with Regard to Age
ANOVA was carried out in order to test whether purpose of Facebook use differs with regard to age or not. When the scores of the participants were examined as shown in Table 4, statistically significant differences were observed in the factors of social relations [F (4-1915) =14.171; p<.001; η 2 =.029] and used for studies [F (4-1915) =45.938; p<.001; η 2 =.088]. Scheffe was carried out in order to find out the differences among the groups. Thus it could be said that the participants between the ages of 18 and 25 used Facebook more than those at the age of 26 and over for the purpose of social relations. Dunnett C test was conducted because of the non-homogeneity of variance to inspect the difference in the factor of use for studies. Therefore, the participants between the ages of 13 and 25 used Facebook more than those between the ages of 26 and 35 and the participants between the ages of 26 and 35 used Facebook more than those at the ages of 36 and over for the purpose of use for studies.

Findings on the Purpose of Facebook Use with Regard to Educational Status
When the scores of the participants were examined statistically significant differences were observed in the factors of social relations [F (4-1915) =6.646; p<.001; η 2 =.014] and use for studies [F (4-1915) =6.908; p<.001; η 2 =.014] according to ANOVA results.
As a result of Scheffe to find out the sources of differences among groups, it was found that university graduates used Facebook more than both elementary and high school graduates for the purpose of social relations. Furthermore it could be said that university graduates use Facebook more than high school graduates for the purpose of use for studies.

Findings on the Purpose of Facebook Use with Regard to Duration of Facebook Use
ANOVA was carried out in order to find out whether purpose of Facebook use differs with regard to duration of Facebook use or not. When the scores of the participants were examined as shown in Table 6, statistically differences were found in the factors of social relations [F (4-1915) =11,365; p<,001; η 2 =.023] and daily use [F (4-1915) =10,227; p<,001; η 2 =.021] with regard to duration of Facebook use. About half an hour, 3.About one hour, 4.Between one and three hours, 5.More than 3 hours) As a result of the Scheffe test in order to find out the differences among the groups, it was found that participants who stayed connected Facebook more than three hours used Facebook more than the others for the purpose of social relations. Participants who stayed connected in Facebook both one hour and between one and three hours used Facebook more than those who used less than 15 minutes for the purpose of social relations. Moreover, it was concluded that participants who stayed connected in Facebook between one and three hours used Facebook than those who stayed connected less than 15 minutes and the participants who stayed connected in Facebook more than 3 hours used Facebook more than those who stayed connected less than half an hour for the purpose of daily use. Furthermore, it appears that the participants who stay connected in Facebook more than 3 hours use Facebook more than those who stay connected in Facebook about one hour and the participants who stay connected in Facebook about one hour use more than those who stay connected less than 15 minutes for the purpose of daily use.

Findings on the Purpose of Facebook Use with Regard to Frequency of Facebook Use
When the scores of the participants investigated as shown in Table 7, statistically significant differences were observed in the factors of social relations [F (4-1915) =6.810; p<.001; η 2 =.014] and the daily use [F (4-1915) =7.390; p<.001; η 2 =.015] with regard to frequency of Facebook use according to ANOVA results. As a result of Scheffe test conducted to find out the differences among the groups, it was found that the participants who used Facebook a few times a day used more than those who used Facebook both once a day and a few times a week for the purpose of social relations and daily use.

CONCLUSION AND SUGGESTIONS
In this research, the purposes of social network game members on Facebook use were examined with regard to several variables. Accordingly, a large number of participants were males (93.4 %) and between the ages of 18 and 25 (49.9 %). Socialbakers (2014) stated that males (63 %) and users between the ages of 18 and 24 (34 %) use Facebook more frequently in Turkey. Eventually, 86.8 % of the participants used Facebook a few times a day while only 0.8 % of the participants used Facebook a few times a month or a year. In similar studies conducted by Sezgin, Erol, Dulkadir and Karakaş (2011) it was found that 65.1 % of the users used Facebook every day and for Şener (2009) this ratio was 68.4 %. Thus, it can be concluded that Facebook use is an important part of our daily lives. Most of the participants stayed connected in Facebook more than 3 hours. In the study of Sezgin et. al. (2011), most of the users stayed connected in Facebook for about half an hour (25.3 %).
Facebook is most commonly used for daily use and social relations while it is least commonly used to support the lessons and studies. Similar studies also have supported this fact. Sezgin et. al. (2011) stated that university students used Facebook most frequently for social relations and daily use, least frequently for lessons and support for studies. In a study conducted by Şener (2009), the primary purpose of students on Facebook use was to communicate with friends (66.2 %). Lenhart and Madden (2007) stated that 55 % of 935 teens between the ages 12 and 17 from USA used social network sites in their daily lives. 49 % of social network users said they use the networks to make new friends. Ofcom (2008) stated that when people communicate through social networking sites it was mostly with people they know in some way. About 66 % of the participants reported talking to friends and family, 47 % looked for old friends and 35 % talked to people who were friends of friends. In comparison, 17 % talked to people they didn't know.
According to research conducted by Mazman (2009), while 51 % of the students used Facebook to maintain their social relations, 15 % of the students said "always" for the item "I use Facebook to support my lessons". Deniz (2012) pointed out that most of the students used Facebook to communicate with friends and few of the students used Facebook for the purpose of support for the lessons and to share homework and projects with classmates.
The views of the participants on the purpose of Facebook use statistically differed only in the factor of social relations with regard to gender. Accordingly, Sezgin et. al. (2011) found differences in the factor of use for studies with regard to gender. Another study which supported that the purpose of use of social networks differs with regard to gender indicated that females were more motivated than males for the purpose of using social networks to maintain social relations, communicate with others, share information and access detailed and wide range of knowledge (Ada, Çiçek & Kaynakyeşil, 2014). When the purpose of Facebook use was examined with regard to age and gender statistically significant differences were found in the factors of social relations and use for studies. The purpose of Facebook use of the participants differed in the factors of social relations and daily use with regard to duration and frequency of Facebook use.
Research results revealed that social network game members frequently log into Facebook and stay connected for a long time. While Facebook which is most commonly used social network is primarily used for the purpose of social relations, it is less frequently used for educational activities.
According to research results, the following suggestions were made. To use Facebook as an educational technology tool for at all educational levels; administrators, teachers and students should be supported establishing the necessary technical infrastructures. Teachers should be trained on the effective use of social network sites. Through social network sites by ensuring their active participation in the teaching process, students should be made to feel that they are part of the process. Through Facebook that commonly used, establishing social relationships, student-teacher and student-student interaction can be increased after courses. Sharing of information can be achieved among group members in the project-based learning. Course contents related with the use of social network sites should be included to the curriculum of ICT courses in secondary and high schools. At the undergraduate level courses that to be performed through Facebook, learning situations in the flexible and informal environments that students feel more relaxed can be examined. Several projects can be prepared to raise awareness on the use of social network sites in educational activities. Similar researches regarding more effective use of social network sites in education can be performed.