Prof. Dr. Yüksel Göktaş

Although social networking websites (SNSs, especially Facebook) have become highly popular with youths, someuniversity students do not want to participate in such sites. This study explores the underlying reasons for high-techuniversity students’ non-use of social networking websites. The study group (n=20) consisted of 18 to 25-year-oldundergraduate students, who were selected by the purposive sampling method. Data were collected from two largestate universities in Turkey. Facebook, as one of the most popular social networking websites, was selected as astudy context. Qualitative research methods were used in the data collection and analysis processes. The primaryreasons for not using social networking websites were that they were perceived to be a waste of time, or an unne-cessary tool; that they might lead to an addiction; that they might violate privacy concerns or share unnecessary infor-mation; and that they might invoke family concerns. Additionally, the findings indicated that most of the students didnot trust virtual friendships, and did not like sharing photographs and political views online. This identification ofnon-user students’ attitudes about SNSs will help us to better understand individual perceptions and experiencesrelating to these social services