Twitter, another popular social network, has 645,750,000 users worldwide (Statistic Brain Research Institute, 2014). In Turkey, the number of Twitter users is over 5 million (TGNA Commission Report, 2012).

Social networking websites store user-related data in their database enabling individuals to connect with their friends, set up groups and share photographs, videos and opinions with people of common interests (Köktürk, 2013). In social networks users are allowed to decide on who can view their profiles; however, security settings are set up by default. Users can decide which other users may access their profiles as well as adjust privacy settings. This flexibility might be considered favourable when adult and informed users are taken into account but adults are not the only users on the internet. Research into social networks has shown that most users do not use security settings or they use very little even though they have the ability to administer the security settings of the information they share (Gross and Acquisti, 2005; Litt, 2013). Although the legal age limit to create an account on social networks is 13, many users who are under 13 are known to use these networks (Yavano?lu et al., 2012). While social networks provide various sharing opportunities they also expose users to various risks and ethical problems, such as: identity theft, violent media, pornography, viruses, profanity, misinformation, fake profiles, hate speech and attacks on personal lives (Haddon et al., 2012). Considering the ages of the social network users, the aforementioned issues become particularly important for users who are under 13 years of age. The results of a study conducted by TGNA (2012) have shown that 48 % of children between the ages of 9-16 use social networks. One-third of the children who have a social network account who participated in the study in question are under 13 years of age. 85% of the children who use social networks have Facebook accounts. Even though more than half of the parents forbid their children to share their personal information online, 42% of the children choose the “Public” profile setting option which enables anyone to view their profiles. One-third of the children share their personal information only with friends. 19% of the children share their  address details and 8% of them share their telephone numbers on social networking websites (TGNA, 2012).

In the United States, children and youths at the K-12 level were seen to have posted a large amount of their personal information to share on social networks (Washington Post, 2010). 

Regarding the movements aimed at promoting the usage of social networks in the field of education, it is clearly seen that these networks are popularly used by many students and teachers for both social and educational purposes. When all these points are taken into account, the need to raise awareness in students about using social networks arises. Teachers play the most vital part in warning students about social networks. Raising awareness in teachers is crucial not only for their own benefit but also in terms of guiding their students and preventing risks and dangers that await students on social networks. In order to inform and raise awareness in teachers, touching on the risks and dangers on social networks in faculties of education may be the basis of future precautions that will be taken by teachers as well as recognizing the unethical behaviours and questioning the steps they take in terms of security measures.

Connectivism theory is the basis of the purpose of this study. Connectivism is a learning theory for the digital age and an approach that explains the process of learning about the meaning of information by establishing ties on networks (Siemens, 2005). The purpose of the study is to explore the perceptions of teachers about the risks and dangers while using social networks and help them realize the points to take into consideration regarding the measures that need to be taken with the security policies on social networks. With the help of the study, it will be possible to determine the frequency of use of social networks and preservice teachers’ activities and the unethical behaviours they encounter on such networks. In the study is to examine the unethical behaviours that pre-service teachers face on social networks. The study has two different subgoals based on the aims set. These are:

(1) To explore the views of preservice teachers on unethical behaviours they come across while using social networks,

(2) To point out the particular unethical behaviours that emerge with the use of social networks as a communication media.

Research model

Being a qualitative study, the research was conducted within the 2013-2014 academic year using maximum variation samplings with the participation of the preservice teachers studying at Kocaeli University in the Faculty of Education. The preservice teachers were given a form consisting of open ended questions. The confidentiality of   the   information   that   the   preservice  teachers provided for the research was of ultimate importance. The forms that students filled in were transcribed by the researchers. They were carefully examined and the codes and categories that established the framework of the research were explored and also functional definitions were assigned. As part of the defined codes, the practices carried out with the preservice teachers were re-examined and the nature and frequency of code applications were determined.

Study group

The students of the Faculty of Education were the core of the study. The participants of the study were second, third and fourth-year students from the departments of Psychological Counselling and Guidance, Computer and Instructional Technologies (CIT) and Classroom Teaching. Prior to receiving the forms, the preservice teachers were told about the purpose of the study and volunteers were sought. 120 preservice teachers answered the forms. 111 forms were analyzed after the elimination of the ones with missing information.

Data collection tool

The open ended form used in the research was created by the researchers who examined the previous studies in the literature on this topic (Balc? and Gölcü, 2013; Bilen et al., 2014;  Büyük?ener, 2009; Christofides et al., 2012; Çam, and ??bulan, 2012; Dilmaç, 2009; Genç et al., 2013; Gross and Acquisti, 2005; Grosseck et al., 2011; Hew, 2011; Lin and Lu, 2011; Özdemir and Akar, 2011; Yu et al., 2012). The expert opinions of three faculty members from the CIT field were sought and their responses helped the researchers to further develop and refine the form.  In the form there were 6 items to determine the demographical information of the preservice teachers and 10 items regarding the unethical problems they faced on social networks. While the items about unethical issues were being developed, the questions were specifically designed to elicit detailed information from the preservice teachers. The preservice teachers were asked questions concerning their purposes in using social networks, their knowledge about the security and privacy settings, users they blocked on social networks, the social networks they used, the unethical behaviours they encountered on these networks and how they dealt with them, the most important problems they came across on social networks and whether it was appropriate for students and teachers to become friends on social networks. After the questionnaire had been developed, firstly the opinions of CIT experts were obtained. Experts gave feedback and offered the change of some of the questions in order to enhance the relevancy of the items in the form with the research questions. After the necessary changes had been made, 12 preservice teachers studying in the department of English Teaching in the Faculty of Education at Kocaeli University, who were exclusive of the study group, were given the form.  According to the results of the pilot scheme, it was understood that the preservice teachers had difficulty in understanding and answering some of the open ended questions; thus the form was finalized pursuant to the necessary changes in the questions. The final version of the form consisted of two sections. The first section was composed of demographical information whereas the second section consisted of the opinions and suggestions of the preservice teachers about the unethical issues faced on social networks. This finalized form was given to volunteer students in the classroom environment by the authors.

Data analysis

No changes or corrections were made on the data obtained from the research. While the data was being analysed each form was given a numeric code from 1 to 111. At first the data were converted into text by the researchers using electronic spreadsheets and then it was sorted out by using content analysis, a qualitative research technique. The answers that preservice teachers gave to each question were classified and interpreted in terms of research purposes and then the frequency of the answers was determined.  Since the categories were created by using qualitative research questions, items about each category were given using frequency and percentage rates. In this way, the researchers attempted to convert the qualitative data into quantitative data. The basic aim in converting qualitative data into quantitative data is to support reliability, decrease partiality and make comparisons among categories (Y?ld?r?m and ?im?ek, 2005). Content analysis was conducted by two researchers and in comparing the results a consensus was reached at a rate of 80%. These results establish the reliability of the coding. Both researchers carried out content analysis separately and the agreements and disagreements from the emerging opinions were examined. Reliability analysis of the qualitative data was carried out by Miles and Huberman’s (1994) formula:

Reconciliation Percent = Consensus / (Consensus + Dissidence) x 100

The cases under various categories were discussed and the researchers tried to reach an agreement. The correspondence coefficient between the two coders was estimated. The coefficient, one of the indicators of reliability, was obtained as .82 for this study.

Within the scope of the research, the findings obtained were compared to the previous research outcomes and presented below in accordance with the purposes of the research.

The demographical information of the participants in the research is seen in Table 1. According to the table, 49 (44%) participants from the psychological counselling and guidance department, 32 (28.8%) participants from the CIT department, and 30 (27%) participants from the classroom teaching department took part in the research. 80 (72.1%) of the participants were female and 31 (27.9%) of them were male. 34 (30.6%) of the preservice teachers were second-year students, 51 (45.9%) of them were third-year students and 26 (23.4%) of them were fourth-year students.14 (12.6%) of the preservice teachers used social networks for half an hour a day, 31 (27.9%) of them used the sites for 1 to 2 hours a day and 36 (32.4) of them used social networks for 5 hours a day or more .The length of time for which the preservice teachers were members of social networks were as follows: 4 (3.6%) of them 1-6 months, 2 (1.8%) of them 1 year, 40 (36%) of them 2-4 years, 62 (55.9%) of them 5-7 years and 3 (2.7%) of them were members for 8 years or more. It was understood that most pre-service teachers were members of  social  networks  for  2  to  7 years on average.

The pre-service teachers were given various options in order to understand their purposes for using social networks and they were allowed to mark more than one option. By examining Table 2, it can be seen that the pre-service teachers used social networks mostly for communicating with friends (n= 99,89%) and finding old friends (n= 64, 57.6). Also, listening to music (n= 42, 37,8%), following sports teams and celebrities (n=34, 30.6%) and imitating the people around them (n=21, 18.9%) were determined as the other common purposes.

Table 3 consists of the answers that the preservice teachers gave to the questions about security. 26,1%  (n=29)  of   the  preservice  teachers  shared  their  social network passwords with others whereas 73.9% (82) of them never shared their passwords with anyone and only 12,6% (n=14) of them stated that their passwords had been hacked. 93,7% (n=104) of the preservice teachers stated that they knew how to deactivate their accounts and 74,8% (n=83) of them indicated that they knew how to block users from viewing their profiles.

The privacy settings that the preservice teachers were aware of can be seen in Table 4. These are; timeline and tagging (n=94, 84,6%), photographs, albums, wall (n=100, 90,9%), friends list (n=94, 84,6%), about section (n=90, 81%), viewing friends list (n=85, 76,5%), connection settings (n=70, 63,6%) and ads (n=154, 48,6%). Most preservice teachers knew how to adjust the privacy settings; however, only half of them knew how to block ads.

As seen in  Table  4,  27,9%  (n=31)  of  the  pre-service teachers stated that they did not block anyone on social networks while 27% (n=30) of them said they blocked friends,   18,9%   (n=21)   of   them   stated  they  blocked relatives, 18% (n=20) of them said they blocked harassers, 17,1% (n=19) of them said they blocked strangers and 9% (n=10) of them stated they blocked people who used abusive language. All in all, it was understood that a majority of the preservice teachers used the blocking option as a security precaution. 57,6% (n=64) of the preservice teachers indicated that they shared personal information with friends on social networks, 25,2% (n=28) of them said they shared it with family members and 17,1% (n=19) of them stated that they shared personal information with everyone. The most frequently used social network websites among the pre-service teachers were Facebook 89,1% (n=99), Twitter 10,8% (n=12) and LinkedIn, Instagram, Whatsapp 5,4% (F=6).

Inappropriate behaviours that pre-service teachers encountered on social networks are given in Table 5. According to the table, 11% (n=20) of the preservice teachers stated that they did not encounter any unethical behaviours while 26,5% (n=48) of them said they came across abusive comments, 13,8% (n= 25) of them said they encountered mockery, 13,3% (n=24) of them stated they faced sexually explicit photograph sharing, 7,7% (F=14) of the teachers said they came across harassment and threats, 5,5% (n=10) of them stated that they encountered insults when another user’s pokes and friend requests were turned down, 3,9% (n=7) of them said they faced sexually explicit ads and the remaining 18,2% of them stated that they came across harassment, insults, video ads, tags in sexually explicit photographs, hacked  accounts,  unauthorized  message  sending  and misinformation.

According to the pre-service teachers, the most important ethical problems on social networks appear to be sharing personal information with the percentage of 20,9 (n=14), sharing inappropriate content 16,4% (n=11) and pestering and mockery with the percentage of 9 (n=6) (Table 6). In addition to the aforementioned behaviours, preservice teachers consider photograph copying, unauthorized use of some information, networks storing all shared items in their database, the spreading of misinformation, fake accounts, profanity, networks being used for child abuse, disturbing ads and insults against national values all to be inappropriate behaviours on social networks.

42,6% (n=49) of the preservice teachers stated that they solved the problems by blocking people,  20,9% (n=4) of them solved it by making a complaint to the website, 15,7% (n=18) of them solved the problem by unfriending the offending user and 7% (n=8) of them solved it by strengthening their privacy settings (Table 7).

While 62,2% (n=69) of the preservice teachers stated that it was acceptable for students and teachers to become friends on social networks as long as they maintained boundaries, 34,2% (n=38) of them indicated that it was inappropriate (Table 8).

The study was intended for the exploration of pre-service teachers’ perceptions  about  the  risks  and dangers that might be encountered while using social networks and helping raise awareness in them regarding the points worthy of consideration and the precautions that need to be taken in regard to the security policies on these networks. In the study that was carried out, it was seen that when the frequency of preservice teachers’ usage of social networks is examined, most of the participants used the networks for 1 hour or more daily.

In the research they conducted, Göker, Demir and Do?an (2010) found that 51,9% of the university students who visited Facebook, which is one of the social networks, spent less than an hour, and 39,3% of them spent 1-2 hours on the website per visit.

It was understood that a great majority of the preservice teachers had social network memberships for 2 to 7 years. According to Akyaz? and Ünal (2013), most of the university students had social network member-ships for 3 years and over. Balc? and Gölcü (2013) pointed out in the study they conducted that 27,7% of the university students were “problematic” Facebook users and the more time users spent on the site the less time they spent with people in real life and they stopped interacting in society, gradually becoming addicted to social networks.

In the study they carried out with pre-service teachers, Çam and ??bulan (2012) concluded that in comparison to females, male preservice teachers were more addicted and also compared to second- or third-year students, fourth-year students were more addicted to social networks. According to Yu et al (2012), an increase in Facebook usage causes users to become psychologically addicted to internet and they also tend to show more social withdrawal.

It was understood that the preservice teachers used social networks mostly to communicate with friends, to listen to music, to follow sports teams and celebrities, and because they imitate the people around them. Göker, Demir and Do?an(2010) with Balc? and Gölcü stated that students use Facebook for the purposes of improving friendships, entertainment, relaxation, receiving information about current events and people. Results consistent with these findings were seen in the literature (Bilen et al., 2014; Kert and Kert, 2010; Mazman, 2009).

While very few of the preservice teachers shared their social network passwords with others, most of them never shared their passwords with anyone and only 12,6% of the preservice teachers stated that their passwords had ever been hacked. Most of the preservice teachers stated that they knew how to deactivate their accounts and 74,8% of them said they knew how to block people from searching for them online. With reference to the emerging results, it can be said that in general preservice teachers are aware of the issue.

Very few of the pre-service teachers stated that their passwords had been hacked. Sel (2013) conducted research about passwords and according to the results of this research, 35% of the secondary school students who took part in the study stated that their passwords had been hacked. When compared to secondary school students, it can be determined that preservice teachers behave more conscientiously about privacy settings, in which age difference plays an important role.

The social network privacy settings that preservice teachers are aware of are as follows; timeline and tagging (90,9%), photographs-albums-wall (90,9%), friends list (84,6%), about section (81%), viewing friends list (76,5%), connection settings (63,6%) and ads (48,6%). Most preservice teachers know how to use privacy settings but only half of them know how to block ads. Since social networks use free advertisement platforms, these pages direct users to pornographic or other explicit content (Varol and Ayd?n, 2010).It has been suggested that publishing videos in the help pages of social networks instead of text would be more useful for users who need information. According to Hew (2011), students tend to share their personal information on Facebook more than any other social network. Also the research has shown that female students use privacy settings more than male students.

27,9% of the preservice teachers have stated that they do not block anyone on social networks whereas 27% of them block friends, 18% of them block relatives, 18% of them block harassers, 17,1% of them block strangers and 9% of them block those who use profane language. In general it is understood that preservice teachers use the blocking option as a security measure. Christofides, Muise and Desmarais (2012) have indicated that adolescents who have bad experiences on social networks tend to take more security measures. They have also stated that informing adolescents in their own peer group about privacy settings and security measures will be a more protective method.

57,6% of the preservice teachers stated that they shared personal information with friends on social networks, 25,2% of them with family members and 17,1% of them shared it with everyone. According to Sel (2013), 4,7% of the secondary school students said they did not want their teachers, 8,3% their relatives, 4,7% their father, 2,3% their sisters and 2,3% their neighbour’s children to view the items they shared.

Facebook is the most popular social network among preservice teachers with a percentage of 89.1. Other popular networks are Twitter with a percentage of 10,8, LinkedIn, Instagram and Whatsapp with a percentage of 5,4. The literature also suggests that the most commonly used social network is Facebook (Baran and Ata, 2013; Christofides et al., 2012; Kert and Kert, 2010; Lin and Lu, 2011; Toprak et al., 2009; Vural and Bat, 2010).

11% of the preservice teachers said that they never encountered any unethical behaviours whereas 26,5% of them stated they came across abusive comments, 13,8% of   them   mockery,   13,3%   of   them   sexually   explicit photographs, 5,5% of them insults when the persons pokes and friend requests were rejected, 3,9% of them sexually explicit ads and the remaining 18,2% of them said that they encountered verbal abuse, insults, video ads, being tagged in sexually explicit photographs, accounts being hacked and unauthorized messaging. These unethical behaviours might also be referred to as cyber bullying.

Dilmaç (2009) defined cyber bullying as “Using electronic data and communication technologies for the purpose of paving the way for threatening and ongoing deliberate abuse of an individual or group by sending vulgar texts and/or visuals with the help of technology.” Dilmaç also observed that 55,3% of the university students partaking in the sample became victims of cyber bullying at least once. Özdemir and Akar (2011) showed that among social networks, high school students were exposed to cyber bullying mostly on Facebook. Also, some preservice teachers considered mockery, viruses, being tagged in inappropriate photographs and insults toward friends and social or religious values a problem. Christofides et al. (2012) concluded that 26,7% of the adolescents who took part in their study had bad experiences on Facebook. 52% of the adolescents experienced harrassment and bullying from their peers, 23% of them received messages or friend requests from strangers, 17% of them shared information and photographs with others which they later regretted, and 7% of them shared items that caused misunderstandings. As a result, the issues that students and preservice teachers have encountered are parallel.

The pre-service teachers consider sharing personal information as the most important unethical behaviour on social networks, with a total percentage of 20,9. Sharing explicit content and pestering and mockery follow with the percentages of 16,4, and 9, respectively. They also regard photographs being able to be copied, unauthorized use of some information, all shared items being stored by the website, misinformation, fake accounts, profanity, the potential for child abuse, disturbing ads, and insulting national values as ethical problems.

42,6% of the preservice teachers indicated that they sorted the problem out by blocking people; 20,9% of them solved it by making a complaint to the website; 15,7% of them by unfriending; and 7% of them solved the issue by increasing their privacy settings. According to the research carried out by Sel (2013), 21% of the secondary school students who participated in the study stated that they became uncomfortable with the profanity on social networks and that they blocked people who used abusive language.

While 62,2% of the preservice teachers found it acceptable for students and teachers to become friends on social networks provided that they maintain boundaries, 34,2% of them consider it inappropriate. More than half of  the  pre-service teachers believe that the line between the student and the teacher should not be crossed regardless of the interaction platform. According to Grosseck et al. (2011), 39,7% of the students who took part in the study replied that teachers should accept their students’ friend requests on Facebook whereas 31,3% of them stated that they were uncertain and 29% of them said teachers should not accept friend requests from their students.

Özp?nar et al. (2010) concluded that the reasons for displaying unethical behaviours on social networks were caused by the environmental and social circle factors, as well as the sense of anonymity created by users who post under pseudonyms and fake profiles..

According to certain studies, university students did not receive proper education on ethics and without more training in online ethics the idea could not go beyond theory and was therefore ineffective (Genç and Fidan, 2013). However, other studies suggested the education that university students received on ethics was sufficient (Özp?nar et al., 2010).

Within education faculties, it is necessary to help preservice teachers develop and improve strategies to deal with ethical problems encountered in social networks; this is important not only for the teachers’ own welfare but on behalf of the students they will one day be educating.

Fake profiles and unethical behaviours that specifically target women and children can cause serious psychological disorders in users. Young children, in particular, can be deceived and physically harmed. After the family, teachers have the greatest responsibility to prevent students from falling victim to misinformation, make them aware of their personal rights, and foster sensitivity to universal moralities. Teachers and preservice teachers ought to be informed about equality, respect to other opinions, human rights, personal privacy, media ethics and universal moralities with regard to online and social media content. Thus, it will be possible for them to inspire their students regarding the above mentioned values and contribute to the solution of the problems. Some suggestions for manifesting this goal include public service announcements on television and online, posters displayed in public areas and in schools, and the introduction of ethics courses at all levels of education.

Ethics

In the study, the participants were informed about the purpose of the research. Then, verbal approval was obtained from the participants who volunteered and were included in the study. They have been reported their views only be used in a scientific investigation.

Students who participated in the study are disclosed with this study on  ethical  issues  in social networks can increase the awareness of teachers and can provide guidance for measures to be taken.

Demographic characteristics of the participants regarding gender and age are given in Table 1. Their names have not been determined in the study in terms of to focus on cases and the ethical principles of research.  However, all records are stored by the researchers.

The authors have not declared any conflict of interests.