Exploring Student Engagement on Library Facebook Pages: A Survey of Vietnamese Academic Libraries

Abstract

Facebook is very popular among young people and especially university students. Therefore, Facebook is the most logical platform to be used by academic libraries for promotional purposes and reaching out to user communities. This study aims to measure the effectiveness of using Facebook in connecting with students in academic libraries. A questionnaire survey was conducted to collect research data from students at four Vietnamese universities. A total of 1,670 valid questionnaires were returned, and more than half of the respondents were females between the ages of 18 and 22 years. The survey results found that libraries' Facebook pages did not receive adequate attention and interaction from students. Besides that, the information needs of students and social media content in general affected student acceptance of libraries' Facebook pages. These factors are demonstrated by the great majority of students who used Facebook often for various purposes, but fewer accessed library pages and they were not actively engaged in library posts. Students were interested in the information they already tended to get from libraries and were optimistic about the quality of library posts. However, they still expected more diverse and attractive content from the libraries. The findings of this study can help libraries create a close connection with students by satisfying their needs and expectations on Facebook.