New Trends and Issues Proceedings on Humanities and Social Sciences Volume 4, Issue 4 (2017) 166-173 ISSN 2421-8030 www.prosoc.eu Selected Papers of 6th Cyprus International Conference on Educational Research (CYICER-2017), 04-06 May 2017, Acapulco Hotel and Resort Convention Center, North Cyprus. Comparison between students’ and instructors’ perceived use and effectiveness of online social technologies Larian Nkomo a *, Department of Management Information System, Faculty of Engineering, Cyprus International University, North Cyprus. Muesser Nat b , Department of Management Information System, Faculty of Engineering, Cyprus International University, North Cyprus. Suggested Citation: Nkomo, L. & Nat, M. (2017). CoŵpaƌisoŶ ďetǁeeŶ “tudeŶts aŶd IŶstƌuĐtoƌs PeƌĐeiǀed Use aŶd EffeĐtiǀeŶess of Online Social Technologies. New Trends and Issues Proceedings on Humanities and Social Sciences. [Online]. 4(4), pp 166-173. Available from: www.prosoc.eu Selection and peer review under responsibility of Assoc. Prof. Dr. Cigdem Hursen, Near East University ©ϮϬϭ7 “ĐieŶĐePaƌk ‘eseaƌĐh, OƌgaŶizatioŶ & CouŶseliŶg. All ƌights ƌeseƌǀed. Abstract With the massive growth in internet user numbers, the use of social technologies has also grown over the past decade and it has changed the way people conduct their business and studies. Today, online social technologies have become part of education which are mainly used to improve learning experiences and facilitate communication between students and instructors. Therefore, instructors consider integrating social technologies such as Facebook and synchronous communication channels in their educational activities based on the fact that students spend lots of time on such social technologies. However, perceived use of social technologies of students and instructors as well as their aims of using them ŵight ďe diffeƌeŶt. This study Đoŵpaƌes studeŶts aŶd iŶstƌuĐtoƌs peƌĐeiǀed use aŶd effeĐtiǀeŶess of online social technologies to fully comprehend the viability of online social technologies in universities. Independent-sample t-test is applied to data collected from 370 students and 106 instructors to find the similarities and differences in perceptions and effectiveness between students and instructors. Keywords: Online social technologies, social media, higher education, student perceptions, instructor perceptions. * ADDRESS FOR CORRESPONDENCE: Larian Nkomo, Department of Management Information System, Faculty of Engineering, Cyprus International University, North Cyprus. E-mail address: mnat@ciu.edu.tr / Tel.: 0392 671 11 11