Social media trends of students receiving religious education: Example of Izmir Imam Hatip High School and 9 Eylül University Faculty of Theology students

Since people are social beings that need to live as a community, they have to live according to the laws determined by the state. We see that Turkey's sample of life inclined towards the Islamic geography predominates. It has been deemed appropriate in the historical process for certain institutions and organizations to become valid within the legal framework so that individuals who accept that they are Muslims can fulfill the requirements of their religion and receive their education correctly. It is seen that such an attempt has been made, especially in terms of transferring religious tendencies that arise in family life from generation to generation and doing this correctly. When the connection of such education with family life is evaluated, it is seen as a starting point that parents present the basis of religious education to their children. In this way, children can continue their lives with an opinion in religious education. In addition, it is possible to determine the right and wrong about religion. Despite the widespread use of social media, whether it is appropriate for students to use social media regularly, especially in the field of religious education, is a controversial issue. At this point, it is thought that parents and educators will be effective in guiding students who use social media correctly. While focusing on the determination of the thesis topic, it was seen that the studies on the relationship between social media and religious education were quite limited, and therefore, it was envisaged to conduct a research that could contribute to filling this gap in the field, albeit a small one. With the qualitative research method, the data obtained through one-on-one interviews. Pre-prepared interview form with 14 questions asked in the interview with 31 high school and university students. During the interviews, intervention was avoided so that the students could express themselves freely. Izmir Imam Hatip High School, and 9 Eylül University Faculty of Theology were selected as pilot schools, and the practices carried out there. Although there are not huge differences between the social media platforms used by high school and university students, there are some variables, and university students are more conscious about the education they receive and social media. Although social media platforms, are used for entertainment purposes, they used for educational purposes. The tendency to question and research the education they receive, also dominates university students.