Boundary-blurred behaviors in academic teachers-students facebook interaction: are guidelines needed? A cross-sectional study.

Background: Communication via social networks has different norms than in the "offline" world and broadens the sphere of student-teacher interactions. Facebook is mainly used for social interaction and information sharing. However, it also serves as an education and learning platform. This risks boundary-blurred behaviors between students and their academic teachers in the virtual space. The current study examines the differences in perceived subjective norms, attitudes, and reported behaviors of academic teachers and nursing students' boundary-blurred behaviors with each other on Facebook.

Methods: A cross-sectional study was utilized, guided by the Theory of Reasoned Action (TRA), examining attitudes, subjective norms, and reported virtual behaviors that signify blurred student-teacher boundaries. Data were collected among 223 nursing students and 78 academic teachers. The university's ethics committee approved the research (#21.9.19).

Results: Consistent with the TRA, a significant correlation was found between virtual boundary-blurred behaviors and attitudes (r = .55, P < .001), university subjective norms (r = .48, p < .001), and peers' subjective norms (r = .47, p < .001). Nursing students' attitudes were significantly (t = 5.81; p < .001) more favorable towards boundary-blurred behaviors (M = 2.40, SD = 0.91) than those of academic-teachers (M = 1.71, SD = 0.83), and so were the perceived subjective norms of their student peers (M = 2.72, SD = 1.15) compared to those of their teachers (M = 2.09, SD = 1.14). Interestingly, the difference in reports of boundary-blurred Facebook behaviors between teachers (M = 1.36, SD = 0.52) and students (M = 1.49, SD = 0.70) was not significant. Boundary-blurred behaviors for teachers were best predicted by attitudes and perceived subjective norms of the university [R² = 0.62; F(5,72) = 23.31], and for students by attitudes and perceived subjective norms of their peers [R² = 0.45; F)5,216) = 28.88].

Conclusions: The differences demonstrated between students and teachers may emanate from the perception of the teacher's role and generational gaps. These may lead to miscommunication and the crossing of boundaries. The findings indicate the importance of setting more explicit guidelines for using social media in the context of student-teacher communication.