Using Facebook that Affected Institute of

Physical Education Students Lifestyles

Dr. Narumon Rodniam
Faculty of Education, Institute of Physical Education Chumphon Campus, Thailand
patumariya@gmail.com
Abstract
The purposes of this study were to
investigate Facebook use and their impact of
using Facebook on the lifestyles of students in
Institute of Physical Education, particularly
400 undergraduate students of Institute of
Physical Education in Thailand, during the
1st semester of academic year 2013. A survey
method with a questionnaire and deptinterviewed were employed to collect data.
The results revealed that 1)Most students used
Facebook via the access devices such as
notebooks, smartphones and laptops. They
spent around one to three hours per day on
average, and used it from 08:00 pm to
midnight in everyday. In overview, their
regular activities for using Facebook were at
moderate level which ranked of activities at
the highest level were the chatting with their
friends, following their learning activities in
class, receiving and sending their personal
message, viewing photos of their friends, and
giving their opinions on others photos or
statements respectively. 2)The overall result
indicated that the students opinions about
the impacts of Facebook usage to the lifestyle
on the daily life activities were at moderate
level. The impact ranked at the highest level
were becoming more isolated, having eye
strain / having headaches and body pains
from spending too long time continuously
using Facebook, sleeping and waking up
later than usual, doing less of their hobbies
and using less of their vacation time. Beside
that most students had opinions about the the
impacts of using Facebook to lifestyles on the
learning performances were at low level. They
agreed that their use Facebook were gaining
more general knowledge. Nevertheless, they
had less time for exam preparation, and had
no time to review their lessons.

Keywords: Behavior, Facebook, Lifestyles,

Student, Institute of Physical Education
I. INTRODUCTION
Nowaday, Internet use has become a
way of life for the people all around the
world. Facebook is quickly becoming one
of the most popular tools for social
communication[1]. However, Facebook is
somewhat different from other Social
Networking Sites(SNSs) as it demonstrates
an ofine-to-online trend; that is, the
majority of Facebook Friends are met
ofine and then added later[1,2]. In
addition, University life without Facebook
is almost unthinkable and since its
inception in 2004, it has quickly become
both a basic tool and a mirror for social
interaction, personality identity and
network building amongst students [3]
Facebook deeply penetrate its users
everyday life and now it has become a
medium for change and expression in
every aspect of life [4]. It is now available
on smartphones, notebook and tablets,
anyone can attach to their relative, friend
and with news, wherever in the world [5].
There is no lack of examples how the
meaning of communication and activities
has been changed as a result of social
media; social media helps to make a
society that values communication and
activities life more than meaning full. In
2013, the proliferation of Thai people
becoming social media users reflects the
increasing 93.8% importance of social
networks in society,and Facebook is frist
popular social media [6].
From the above discussion, we can see
that Facebook has been having important

roles and inevitably impacts on people in

the society. The researchers, as a teacher in
an Institute of Physical Education, has
realized effects of Facebook on lifestyles
of students. Therefore, the researchers
were interested in studying about
behaviors in using Facebook and impacts
of Facebook use on students of Institute of
Physical Education in Thailand. These
students are undergraduate students, and
are considered youths who prefer to open
their mind for new technologies.
Meanwhile, they are a group of citizens
that is at risk of danger arisen from the
social network, sickness happening from
lengthy internet use, and unpleasant
impacts on their education. Data from this
study are expected to be highly beneficial
in being used for determining strategies
and for developing a plan of using
Facebook creatively, which should result
in maximum benefits to student
development in the future.
II. OBJECCTIVE
This study is designed to: explore the
Facebook behaviors and determined effects
of Facebook use on lifestyles of students in
Institutes of Physical Education.
III. METHODOLOGY
A. Population and sample
1) Population of the study comprised
undergrad students of Institutes of Physical
Education who registered in the first
semester of 2013 academic year. There
were 18,591 of them in total.
2) Sample of the study consisted of 400
undergrad students in the Faculty of
Education, Faculty of Liberal Arts, and
Faculty of Sport and Health Science from
17 campus, Institutes of Physical
Education throughout Thailand. These
students registered in the first semester of
2013 academic year. They were randomly
selected by using Multi-Stage Sampling
method.

B. Research Instruments.
The instruments used in this research
consisted of:
1) Questionnaire: The structure of items
in this questionnaire is divided into 4 parts.
Part 1: The questionnaire contains 7
checklist-type items that inquire about
general data concerning demographic
characteristics of the respondents.
Part 2: The questionnaire contains 7
checklist-type items that are used for
obtaining basic data about how students
use Facebook and other social networks.
Part 3: The questionnaire contains 5
checklist-type items that are used for
collecting data concerning behaviors in
using Facebook and contains 17 likert
scale-type items that are the students
regularly activities when using Facebook.
Part 4: The questionnaire contains 37
likert scale-type items that are collects data
about effects of Facebook use on lifestyles
of the students, with 25 questions for daily
life activities, 12 questions for Education
activities, and others comment.
2)Semistructured Interviews: The
interviews used questions that cover these
following issues: 1. general data regarding
Facebook use behaviors; 2. general
dominant characteristics of behaviors in
using Facebook; 3. effects of Facebook use
on living activities and education; and 4.
recommendations regarding Facebook use.
C. Data Collection
The researcher coordinated with
teachers of all the 17 campus of Institutes
of Physical Education for this data
collection
process.
The
researcher
explained about objectives and methods
for answering the questionnaire in order to
get the specified sample, which comprised
students who were willing to answer the
questionnaire. Regarding the interviews,
the researcher conducted the interviews by
herself. The researcher chose to interview
only students who seemed to enjoy using
Facebook and have been using Facebook
for a long time (according to the initial
data given in the questionnaire). The

researcher spent time for collecting data

from July 14th to September 14th, 2013,
until 100% of the target, or 400
respondents, had been achieved. Number
of interviewees that provided data in the
in-depth interviews was 10 students.
D. Data Analysis
The quantitative data was analyzed by
using the package computer software.
frequency, percentage, average, and
standard deviation; while qualitative data
were analyzed with content analysis from
the open-ended questions and from the indepth interviews. This qualitative data
analysis was used for confirming the
results with the obtained quantitative data.
The researcher performed the qualitative
analysis based on a content analysis by
creating inferential conclusions, and linked
the data with the initially-derived
quantitative data in order to answer the
research questions according to the
determined objectives of the study.
IV. RESULTS
1) General data of the respondents
400 participants, males were 254 (63.5%)
and females were 146 (36.5%). Most sample
were 20 years old (27.8%), studied in the
second year(47.0%), belongs to the Education
Faculty(70.5%), lived in dormitories(62.0%),
and had a monthly income ranging from
2,0014,000 baht (48.8 %)
2)Initial data regarding use of
Facebook and other social networks
2.1 Regular places for using the
internet: Most of the sample used the
internet at home (37.5%). This is followed
by those who used the internet at the
academic institution(33.8 %), at their
dormitory (14.0 %), at an internetcaf
(10.8%), and others (4.0 %).
2.2. Regularly used online networks:
Most of the sample used Facebook(95.3%),
followed by Google+(63.8%), Line (49.5%),
Instagram (12.0%), and others (5.8%).

2.3 Initial knowledge about Facebook:

Most of the sample knew Facebook via
their friends (47.3%), followed by knowing
it by oneself (38.0%), knowing it from the
teacher who used Facebook in the class
(6.8%), knowing it via a website (5.3 %),
and knowing it via an e-mail(2.8 %) .
2.4 Experience in using Facebook:
Most of the sample had experience in using
Facebook for 2-3 years(31.0%), followed by
3-4 years (27.8%), 6 months1 year (18.8%),
1-2 years (17.0%), 0-6 months(3.5%), and 5
years or more(2.0%).
2.5 Number of Facebook accounts: Most
of the sample had one Facebook account
(70.8%), followed by 2 accounts(23.0%), 3
accounts(4.0%),and 4 accounts or more
(2.3%).
2.6 Communication device while using
Facebook: Most of the sample used laptop
computers (49.0%), followed by smart
phones
(31.0%), desktop computers
(17.0%), and tablet PC (3.0%).
2.7 Number of friends in Facebook
Most of the sample had 501 Facebook
friends or more( 61.3%), followed by
those having 301-500 Facebook friends
(17.3%),
101- 300Facebook
friends
( 16.8%), and less than 100 Facebook
friends ( 4.8%).
3)Data regarding behaviors in using
Facebook
Initial data regarding behaviors in using
Facebook of the sample of 400 students
revealed that:
3.1 Frequency in using Facebook:
Most of the sample used Facebook every
day(63.5 %), followed by 2-5 days per
week(33.0%), 1 day per week(3.3%), and
less than 2 days per month (0.2%).
3.2 Average amount of time for using
Facebook each time: Most used Facebook
each time for 1-3 hours (55.0%), followed
by 1 hour(23.2%), and 3-5 hours(11.8%).
3.3 Time of using Facebook in each
day: Most of the sample used Facebook
during 8 PM midnight (41.7%), followed
by 4 PM8 PM (31.8%), 8 AM to noon

(12.0%), noon-4 PM( 9.5%), 4 AM-8 AM

(3.5%), and after midnight-4 AM (1.5%).
3.4 Characteristics of using Facebook
each time: Most of the sample used
Facebook each time in a manner of using it
and taking a rest alternately according to
opportunity (66.2%), followed by those
who used Facebook continuously without
taking a rest at all(16.8%), those who used
Facebook for about 1 hour then took a rest
(16.3%), and others (0.8 %).
3.5 Objectives in using Facebook:
Most of the sample used Facebook for
contacting with current friends and old
friends (74.0%), followed by those who
used Facebook for following updates of
friends and groups that they were
interested in(71.8%), used it for doing
teaching and learning activities(65.3%),
used it for presenting personal data (such
as posting messages(64.3%), updating
status, and posting photos) (64.3%), used it
for playing games (30.3%), used it for
imitating friends in order to be regarded as
a trendy person(13.3%), and others (2.0%)
3.6. Regular activities done while
using Facebook were considered to be at a
moderate level( =2.99).When considering
at each item, it was found that most of the
items represented activities that were
performed at a moderate level. However,
there were 2 items of Facebook activities
that the students did at a high level, which
were chatting( =3.75) and following class
activities( =3.69). Also, there were two
Facebook activities that they did at a low
level, which were following or being
members of productsbrands( =2.36) and
uploading videos ( =2.23). Activities that
they did at a moderate level were sending
and receiving personal messages( =3.45),
viewing photos of others( =3.38), making
comments on photos or sending messages
to others ( =3.34), creating photo albums
( =3.08), making advance notifications on
birthdays( =2.93), changing personal
status( =2.95), writing notes( =2.82),
building and joining social groups
( =2.97), reading personal history/ message

of other people( =2.93), informing about

group appointments( =2.90), searching
for friends( =2.79),playing games ( =
2.64), and exchanging photos ( = 2.64).
4. Effects of Facebook use on living
activities and on education
4.1 Effects of Facebook use on living
activities
In general, the effects were at a moderate
level ( =2.53). When considering at each
item, there are 12 items that were found to
have moderate effects on living activities
of the students. These 12 effects were
spending time with oneself( =3.08),
having eye pain/ headache/body pain when
using Facebook for a long time( =3.05),
sleeping and getting up more late( =2.94),
spending less time for hobbies( =2.83),
going out during holiday less( =2.78),
sitting still and not wanting to move
( =2.71), doing activities outside the
house less( =2.70), eating cookies and
instant food more ( =2.60), exercising
less( =2.59), wanting to use Facebook
when seeing others do so( =2.57), being
afraid of being blamed when there is an
argument or misunderstanding with
friends( =2.52), and feeling sad when
being blamed via comments( =2.51),
respectively. Effects on living activities at
a low level were found in 13 items, which
can be sorted from a higher to a lower
levels as follow: having untimely or
incomplete meals( =2.49), worrying that
there would be someone writing something
bad about oneself( =2.49), having no
patience to wait for a long time for
something( =2.47), being suspicious and
not relying on others( =2.42), having
only a few friends in real life( =2.36),
paying no attention to surrounding people
and environment( =2.35), feeling upset or
stressful when being unable to use
Facebook( =2.34), being unable to control
emotion when using Facebook( =2.34),
having fewer activities or less conversation
with family members or friends( =2.34),
joining fewer club activities( =2.32),

having diseases such as gastritis or

diarrhea( =2.25), Use Facebook so much
that they have no time for sleeping or eating.
( =2.20) and trying to restrain urination
or defecation( =2.12), as shown in Table I.
4.2Effects of Facebook use on education
In general, these effects are at a low
level ( =2.30). When considering at each
item, it was found that most items (9
items) were effects at a low level. These
items include finishing homework or
assignment late( =2.37), using Facebook
while studying( =2.35), performing not
well enough on the assigned work( =2.30),
having shorter concentration in studying
( =2.24), lacking attention in the studied
subject( =2.21), having poorer grades
( =2.13), lacking attention in helping
friends doing the group work( =2.07),
going to school late ( =1.96), and missing
classes more frequently( =1.80). The
remaining items were effects at a moderate
level( =3.11), namely having more general
knowledge ( =3.11), spending less time in
reading books for exams( =2.56), and not
reviewing the studied lessons( =2.52) , as
shown in Table II.
TABLE I
Effects of Facebook use on living activities
effects of Facebook use
on living activities
spending time with oneself
having
eye
pain/
headache/body pain when
using FB for a long time
sleeping and getting up
more late
spending less time for
hobbies

S.D.

effect
level
3.08 1.08 moderate

3.05 1.16 moderate

blamed when there is an

argument or misunderstanding with friends
feeling sad when being
blamed via comments
having
untimely
or
incomplete meals
worrying
that
there
would
be
someone
writing something bad
about oneself
having no patience to
wait for a long time for
something
being suspicious and not
relying on others
having only a few friends
in real life
paying no attention to
surrounding people and
environment
feeling upset or stressful
when being unable to use
Facebook
being unable to control
emotion when using FB
having fewer activities or
less conversation with
family
members
or
friends
joining
fewer
club
activities
having diseases such as
gastritis or diarrhea
Use Facebook so much
that they have no time for
sleeping or eating.
trying
to
restrain
urination or defecation

overview

2.51 1.12 moderate

2.49 1.18

low

2.49 1.14

low

2.47 1.10

low

2.42 1.10

low

2.36 1.20

low

2.35 1.07

low

2.34 1.12

low

2.34 1.15

low

2.34 1.12

low

2.32 1.05

low

2.25 1.16

low

2.20 1.17

low

2.12 1.13 low

2.53 1.12 moderate

2.94 1.19 moderate

2.83 1.03 moderate

going out during holiday less 2.78 1.08 moderate
sitting still and not
wanting to move
2.71 1.11 moderate
doing activities outside the
house less
2.70 1.05 moderate
eating cookies and instant
food more
2.60 1.11 moderate
exercising less
2.59 1.12 moderate
wanting to use Facebook
when seeing others do so 2.57 1.11 moderate
being afraid of being 2.52 1.12 moderate

TABLE II
Effects of Facebook use on education
effects of Facebook
effect
S.D.

use on education
level
namely having more
general knowledge
3.11 1.27 moderate
spending less time
in reading books for
exams
2.56 1.22 moderate
not reviewing the
studied lessons
2.52 1.20 moderate

finishing homework
or assignment late
using
Facebook
while studying
performing not well
enough
on
the
assigned work
having
shorter
concentration
in
studying
lacking attention in
the studied subject
Having poorer grades
lacking attention in
helping friends doing
the group work
going to school late
missing
classes
more frequently

overview

2.37 1.16 low

2.35 1.19

low

2.30 1.12

low

2.24 1.10

low

2.21 1.15
2.13 1.09

low
low

2.07 1.06
1.96 1.04

low
low

1.80 1.05
2.30 1.14

low
low

5. Additional opinions regarding in using

Facebook and effects of Facebook use
The 10 interviewees, who had used
Facebook for a long time and used it
frequently, provided information that most
of them had known and used Facebook for
about 3 or 4 years. The cause that made
them chose to use Facebook can be
summarized as follow. 1)To use it for
communication. 2) To use it for work,
such as using Facebook for following class
activities or for buying and selling online
goods. 3) To use it for entertainment such
as for playing games. 4) To use it for
monitoring lives of friends or partners.
Finally,the sample used Facebook for
keeping up with the trend. The sampled
students agreed that Facebook had effects
on living activities and education in both
positive and negative ways. According to
their opinion, negative effects included: 1)
using Facebook results in having less time
for doing other activities such as playing
sports, going outside, reading books, while
spending more time inside the dormitory;
2)using Facebook makes them have
untimely meals because they might be
involved with games or might enjoy
reading information in Facebook; 3) their
eyes can be deteriorated because most of

them like to turn off the light when using

Facebook at night; 4) using Facebook so
much makes them have lower efficiency in
their education; 5) they may get addicted
to the language used in Facebook, which is
usually distorted or misspelled. On the
other hand, positive effects of Facebook
use on living activities and education were
found to include: 1)Facebook can help
them follow news and updates in the
subject, keep up with content and class
assignment from the teacher, and be able
to submit assignment on time. The sample
said that their grades would be poorer if
they did not have Facebook, because they
could not follow progress of their work.
Facebook was very helpful for them in this
task. 2) Facebook helped them obtain new
knowledge beyond contents in the
classroom. This is because Facebook is a
global-wide society. Thus it allows users
to learn language and culture of foreign
friends or friends from different areas. 3)
Facebook helps users to save telephone
cost, and allows fast and convenient
communication. Users can leave messages
to their friends, who can read them at any
time they are convenient to do so. 4)
Facebook allows users to have more
friends. 5) Facebook allows buying and
selling goods via its services. 6) Facebook
results in good relationship among friends
because they have time to exchange
information, sharing experience, and
provide spiritual support to each other.
They
provided
recommendations
regarding Facebook use as follow. 1)
Users should learn to control themselves.
2) Users should have good judgement in
using Facebook regarding both receiving
and presenting information. 3) Users
should use Facebook in a timely manner.
4) Users should use proper words, and
restrain from using violent words, which
can bring a bad image to oneself. 5)
Students should be encouraged to use Thai
language correctly when using Facebook.
6) Students should have consciousness
when using Facebook. 7) Users should use
Facebook creatively, and should be applied

facebook to facilitate teaching and learning

activities more.
V. CONCLUSIONS
1. Most of the sample used Facebook as
one of their social networks almost every day.
The social networks that they preferred to use
most were Facebook, Google+, and Line,
respectively. Objectives of activities that they
often do in social networks included
communication, education,and entertainment.
These results reflect that Facebook has strong
influences on living of the students.
Therefore, teachers are recommended to
apply Facebook, Google+, and Line for
supporting their teaching arrangement. For
example, teachers may present course
lessons via groups in Facebook, assign
work, and set activities that allow students
to express opinions, exchange information,
and share knowledge via Facebook.
Teachers may also use Facebook for
monitoring progress of students learning.
2. In general, Facebook use causes
effects on education at a low level.
However, considering at each item, it was
found that the increase of their general
knowledge, the decrease of their book
reading, and the absence of their lesson
review were at a moderate level.
According to these data, it can be seen that
Facebook use has both positive and
negative impacts on education. These
impacts depend on judgement in using
Facebook of each person. Therefore, in
organizing teaching and learning, teachers
should provide appropriate advice
regarding Facebook use to students. For
example, students should be advised to
manage their time for using Facebook and
for doing education activities. In addition,
teacher should encourage students to use
Facebook creatively and to build a
productive online-learning society. For
example, teachers should support students
to use Thai language correctly, to
distribute knowledge about sports, health,
or other interesting knowledge, and to
publish useful information via Facebook.

3. Effects of Facebook use on living

activities were found to be at a moderate
level. The first 3 outstanding effects were
spending more time with oneself, having
eye pain/headache/body pain after a long
Facebook use, and sleeping and getting up
late. Therefore, teachers should provide
appropriate recommendations regarding
Facebook use and support students to
manage their own time properly both for
using Facebook and for doing other
activities. Teachers should also educate
students about diseases that may happen
from inappropriate Facebook use, and
suggest them proper techniques in using
Facebook to prevent such diseases.
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
Support
research
was
received
from the New Research Fund 2013 of
Institute of Physical Education, Thailand.
A special thanks to all of the Institute of
Physical Education student
to
give
valuable opinions for this research.
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