Exploring interactions between dental hygiene faculty and current undergraduate dental hygiene students on facebook
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2016 Canadian Dental Hygienists Association. Purpose: The purpose of this study was to identify attitudes and experiences of dental hygiene faculty regarding interactions with current undergraduate dental hygiene students on Facebook (FB). Methods: In 2013, an online survey instrument was administered to 232 dental hygiene faculty members at 33 dental hygiene programs in Texas, Oklahoma, and New Mexico. A total of 94 dental hygiene faculty members participated, representing a 41% response rate. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used to analyse the data. Results: Of the respondents who indicated they had a FB account (84.2%), only a few (12.5%) were friends with students on FB. The majority of respondents (69.1%) felt it was inappropriate for faculty and students to interact on FB. Many felt the line between faculty and students was blurred because of FB interaction (68.1%). Over half (54.3%) agreed that faculty should use a separate FB page to interact with students. Just over 78% of faculty desired institutional guidelines for interactions on FB. Conclusions: Few dental hygiene faculty use FB either to interact with students or as a platform for academic use. This study supports the need for best practice guidelines to assist faculty in navigating the ambiguity of social networking relationships.
