2.1. Facebook

First launched in 2004, Reitz (2013) defined Facebook as a social networking site that allows individuals to create and upgrade personal profiles, maintain a friends list to whom messages can be exchanged, and join social networks organized by the school, workplace, city, or region. Facebook is free to use, making it open to everyone (Kohli et al., 2018). Facebook offers its users several functions, including status updating, photo or video uploading, reacting to and commenting on posts, as well as sending private messages (Chan et al., 2020). In addition, Facebook users can follow a page or someone and will then receive updates about them in the news feed (Wan, 2011). Besides this, Facebook provides an analytics section called Facebook Insights to measure engagement and usage (King, 2015). Internet users have different reasons for participating on Facebook, such as sharing and seeking information, maintaining communication between themselves and their families, friends, and colleagues, or leisure purposes (Al-Busaidi, 2014; Marino et al., 2016). In recent years, Facebook has grown to be the world’s most commonly accessed social networking site, with almost 1.93 billion daily active users during the third quarter of 2021 (Statista Research Department, 2021a). The rising number of Facebook users demonstrates that Facebook plays an increasingly important role in social life (Shiau et al., 2018). Divine et al. (2019) reported that 23% of Facebook users were young people aged 18-25 years. Significantly, Facebook usage among students is increasing, and 32% of university students spend more than four hours of their daily time on Facebook (Divine et al., 2019).

2.2. Facebook Use in Academic Libraries

More and more libraries are building a presence on social media (Vassilakaki & Garoufallou, 2014). Taylor and Francis Group (2016) provided an overview of current practices relating to social media application by libraries worldwide. They reported that social media is now widely used, with more than 70% libraries participating. In particular, Facebook is the most popular academic library platform today (Cheng et al., 2020). Previous studies identified that academic libraries used Facebook to promote information resources and services, deliver online services, reach out to users, and improve teaching and learning of information literacy (Cheng et al., 2020; Chugh & Ruhi, 2018). Several content analyses were carried out on Facebook pages of academic libraries and reflected different uses of Facebook. Notably, academic libraries in the United States used Facebook to promote library services and make community connections using posts designed to pique users’ curiosity in the casual language used (Harrison et al., 2017; Phillips, 2011). Likewise, Croatian libraries mainly adapted Facebook for promotional purposes, sharing links potentially interesting to users (Zorica et al., 2012). Roos (2013) revealed that Facebook was adapted mostly for announcements by Estonian academic libraries. In addition to content analysis, measuring the success of library posts has been discussed in recent studies. According to Glazer (2012), the level of engagement with posts is a significant indicator to measure the use of Facebook. More specifically, engagement is calculated by the total number of likes, shares, and comments on posts (Al-Daihani & Abrahams, 2018; King, 2015).

2.3. Literature Gap

As mentioned above, numerous studies on Facebook adoption among libraries have been carried out in the last few years. Although libraries need to know how to use social media effectively by understanding their users’ behavior, culture, and etiquette, only a few studies focus on users through collecting data from them (Cheng et al., 2020). Moreover, previous studies mainly mentioned academic libraries in the West. More case studies on Facebook use in Asian countries are needed to comprehensively understand the Facebook phenomenon in libraries worldwide (Aharony, 2012; Chan et al., 2020). Although many Vietnamese libraries use Facebook, research on Facebook is still limited from both users’ and libraries’ sides (Hồ, 2018). Therefore, this present study tries to fill the research gap by analysing the use of Facebook as a connecting tool between libraries and users from the student perspective in Vietnam.

4.1. Respondents’ Demographic Characteristics

Respondents to the questionnaire were requested to clarify their demographic characteristics (i.e., sex, age, and year of study). As shown in Table 1, more than half of the respondents were female (59.52%), while 40.48% were male. Furthermore, 43.23% were aged between 18 to less than 20 years old, 40.66% were aged between 20 to less than 22 years old, and 16.11% were aged 22 years and above. The respondents’ composition regarding years of study was: 38.08% were in the first year, 30.3% were in the second year, 19.88% were in the third year, and 11.74% were in the fourth year.

4.2. Students’ Use of Facebook

Students were asked to provide information on their habits and preferences on Facebook. It was clear from the results that Facebook is very popular among students. Almost all respondents were active on this platform (98.08%). In particular, most respondents answered they use Facebook “at least once per day” or “multiple times daily” (Fig. 1).

Fig. 1

Level of students’ use of Facebook.

Next, students were asked about their purposes for using Facebook. According to Fig. 2, respondents overwhelmingly use Facebook for finding entertaining content (95.63%), keeping in touch with friends and family (93.17%), or learning about something new or academic purposes (91.86%). There were other purposes based on the answers to this question, ranging from staying updated with news of their interests to sharing information, photos, and videos with others, doing business (e.g., selling products online), and making new friends.

Fig. 2

Students’ purposes of using Facebook.

4.3. Students’ Use of Libraries’ Facebook Pages

Respondents were asked how likely they were to use libraries’ Facebook pages. Fig. 3 illustrates the responses received. However, most respondents use Facebook for personal reasons, and fewer access library pages. For example, 38.41% of the US respondents reported they “never use” the library page on Facebook.

Fig. 3

Level of students’ use of libraries’ Facebook pages. USSH, University of Social Sciences and Humanities; US, University of Science; UTE, University of Technology and Education; TDTU, Ton Duc Thang University.

Regarding the reasons for the non-usage of libraries’ Facebook pages, respondents who stated “never use” were asked to explain why they did not access their libraries’ pages (Fig. 4). The study found out that students had a high awareness of Facebook but a low awareness of library Facebook pages. Lack of understanding of the sites’ existence was the main reason the respondents did not use libraries’ Facebook pages, given by 62.3% at USSH, 51.95% at US, 60% at UTE, and 27.54% at TDTU. Other reasons for non-usage were that students did not find their libraries’ pages, were not interested in the information provided by the library, and did not need libraries or their services. These results indicated that libraries need to spend more time and effort to increase their visibility and enrich their social media content on Facebook.

Fig. 4

Reasons for non-usage of libraries’ Facebook pages. USSH, University of Social Sciences and Humanities; US, University of Science; UTE, University of Technology and Education; TDTU, Ton Duc Thang University.

Next, respondents were asked about their purposes while accessing pages supplied by libraries (Fig. 5). The survey results found that “Learn about what’s happening in the library” and “Learn about library resources, products, and services” were reported as the primary purposes of using libraries’ Facebook pages with 79.54% and 78.38%, respectively. Besides this, most respondents (74.13%) used libraries’ Facebook pages to “Learn information skills,” which included examples such as seeking information in the various collections within the library, or accessing different specific online databases. Following this, 49.5% of respondents chose “Learn about general library information,” which included library hours, contacts, policies, and rules. 41.54% of respondents used libraries’ Facebook pages to “Give feedback or interact with the library,” followed by “Sharing information with others” with 24.17%. Coming in last, which still means 9.81% of respondents, was “Make new friends.”

Fig. 5

Students’ purposes while accessing libraries’ Facebook pages.

4.4. Students’ Interaction with Library Posts

If students become engaged with libraries through social networks, this can influence their perceptions and actions. However, the current study finds low student interaction with libraries’ posts. More than half of the respondents (54.98%) have never interacted with libraries on Facebook (Fig. 6).

Fig. 6

Number of respondents who interacted with libraries.

Respondents who interacted with libraries were then asked to clarify their interactions (Fig. 7).

Fig. 7

Types of student interactions on libraries’ Facebook pages.

According to Fig. 7, most respondents interacted with library posts using emoticons to express their emotions (79.25%). The following most frequent interaction was sharing libraries’ posts on their profile (31.9%). When students are engaged with libraries and respond positively to the content, they share it with friends. This can be beneficial to libraries, especially when many students do not access libraries’ Facebook pages. These students may still receive messages from libraries through their peers. The third most common interaction was commenting on libraries’ posts. Although the number of respondents who left comments was still low (31.56%), commenting might help spread the libraries’ posts and attract more attention from other users on Facebook. Lastly, 23.33% of respondents contacted librarians via Facebook chat messages. The reasons for these contacts were questions about the library and questions about resources or events mentioned.

4.5. Student Ratings of Library Posts

Students were asked how they rated the quality of the messages posted on libraries’ Facebook pages from “very poor” to “excellent.” The responses received were relatively positive in general (Fig. 8).

Fig. 8

Student ratings of libraries’ posts on Facebook.

Firstly, criteria related to the content of messages were evaluated. As shown in Fig. 8, the diversity in content was rated “fair” by nearly half of the respondents (46.18%). This demonstrates that librarians should carefully select wider content in addition to content directly related to the library itself. Next, respondents were asked if they thought messages shared on libraries’ Facebook pages were useful and relevant. As expected, Fig. 8 shows the responses were overwhelmingly positive, with the rating as 30.04% “excellent” and 45.64% “good.” Students are very familiar with social networks since they often use them for various purposes. Therefore, useful and relevant content will encourage students to accept libraries as a source of good quality information, which might help to increase the use of library facilities and resources. Although the value of frequently updated content was measured as “fair” by the majority of respondents in total (40.77%), 29.73% of respondents rated this criterion as “good.” Generally, among the content criteria, the relevant and useful messages posted had the most excellent rating, while the frequently updated criterion had the poorest rating.

Then, respondents were asked to evaluate criteria related to the format of messages that appeared on libraries’ Facebook pages. In particular, respondents were asked about the attractiveness of libraries’ posts. The results were relatively modest: 42.39% of respondents rated it “fair.” Most respondents found libraries’ messages were written in a good writing style. The rating was 28.65% “excellent” and 42.01% “good.” Likewise, the survey results also show that respondents were impressed with the clear and reasonable format of libraries’ messages, with 60.85% rating it as either “excellent” or “good.” In short, when all the criteria for format are compared, good writing style had an excellent rating while being engaging and attractive had the lowest rating.

4.6. Impact of Libraries’ Facebook Pages on Students

Respondents were asked about statements related to the effectiveness of Facebook as a way of raising awareness amongst students. Most of the respondents recognized certain benefits of using Facebook. Responses are presented in Fig. 9.

Fig. 9

Student responses to statements related to Facebook use in libraries.

Facebook was considered an effective tool for libraries to promote and communicate with users. Most respondents agreed that they were made aware of library resources, services, and activities through Facebook. Respondents were also asked about their use of libraries due to their promotion via Facebook. The findings are encouraging as they demonstrate that promotion via Facebook impacts the use of information resources, products, and promoted services. Many respondents thought Facebook had increased their use of the library with 35.98% “agree” and 16.53% “strongly agree.” This is positive because it means Facebook is helping to encourage students to use libraries.

Making librarians more accessible through online interactions is one of the primary benefits of adopting Facebook in libraries. Responses to the statement “I have contacted the library more often” were overwhelmingly positive. “Strongly disagreed,” “disagreed,” and “neutral” responses were in the minority with this statement. Online contact with libraries was available previously. There was still an element of inconvenience, as students had to visit the library website to get contact details in the past. In contrast, they can directly contact librarians more quickly by making librarians seem more approachable. Facebook can break down barriers between libraries and students.

Twenty-one percent (21.08%) of respondents strongly agreed, and 40.62% decided that it is important for libraries to maintain a presence on Facebook. Students are very tech-aware, so it is no surprise that they respond positively to using Facebook.

4.7. Students’ Expectations for Libraries’ Facebook Pages

Respondents were asked what content they would like to see from libraries on Facebook. The questionnaire presented a list of contents from which respondents could choose, including how to use library resources and services (e.g., finding materials, using scanners or printers, renewing checked-out books); library collections and resources info (e.g., information about authors whose books libraries have, information about what is in digital collections or curriculum collections, information about specific databases); library news (e.g., if the library wins an award); research techniques and tips; non-academic reading (e.g., new arrivals in recreation collections, reading suggestions over breaks, interesting websites); and campus-wide events (Fig. 10).

Fig. 10

Students’ expectations for the content of library posts.

Respondents widely selected all types of content, with the three most chosen content options being research techniques and tips (80.23%), library collections and resources info (74.67%), and how to use library resources and services (64.25%).

Besides the content of posts, respondents thought that libraries need to improve the quality of photos and videos. Respondents also suggested that libraries use special Facebook features such as stories, hashtags, and live videos to attract more viewers.

5.1. Students’ Use of Library Facebook Pages (RQ1)

The survey results show that students currently use Facebook very often. Facebook is a primary tool for students to communicate with classmates, family, friends, and others. However, students who used library Facebook pages did so only rarely or did not use them at all. A significant portion of respondents did not access library pages because they did not know about them. Thus, libraries need to solve this problem. The good news for libraries is that students are interested in the information they receive from libraries on Facebook, including information about libraries and their products, services, or announcements. Therefore, libraries need to communicate with students regarding services, collections, events, and more.

Moreover, students were passively engaged in libraries’ posts because they rarely like, share, and comment on posts. It shows that most students were merely consuming information. If libraries are serious about using Facebook to communicate with students, then libraries need to put more effort into interacting with them.

5.2. Students’ Evaluation of Library Posts on Facebook (RQ2)

The findings revealed that students’ assessment of library posts’ quality was generally relatively positive. Students appreciated the usefulness of the library messages. The library pages had low student engagement because the content format was not interesting. The use of Facebook has a positive impact on those who use it, and students feel Facebook is an effective way to communicate with libraries. Facebook provides a reminder of libraries and encourages students to use their advertised resources and services. By giving students content that is both helpful and interesting, the library is helping to solidify its reputation as a place for quality information. This will encourage students to think about the library when they need information and will raise library use.

5.3. Students’ Expectation for Library Facebook Pages (RQ3)

The survey results showed that students expect and are mainly interested in information for academic purposes. Perhaps unsurprisingly, students pointed out that libraries should increase the quality of visual content and actively use various Facebook features to attract interaction. If libraries create content that aligns with student preferences, the level of engagement on Facebook will increase.

Based on the survey results, the author makes a few recommendations to optimize library Facebook pages.