The changing dimension of volunteering "Virtual Volunteering" and university youth's awereness of virtual volunteering

The purpose of this study is to try to reveal how volunteer activities are being carried out by day-to-day virtual volunteers, how to use the internet and internet-based practices and how they are perceived by young people who are very important in volunteerism, and to reveal the participation levels and participation motivations in this new dimension of volunteering. The general screening model was used in this study. The universe of the research was determined as university students who were studying at Anadolu University in the fall semester of 2016-2017 academic year. "Survey of Virtual Volunteering Perceptions and Participation to Virtual Volunteering Activities of University Students" was used to collect the data needed in the research. The study has shown as a result that the participants agree Internet has changed the way of volunteering activities and opened new opportunities for volunteers; virtual volunteering has allowed volunteers to volunteer in the area they are interested in and removed the obligation to be dependent on a certain time and space and has provided the opportunity of being a volunteer to those who can't be one due to the circumstances and also has created an environment where volunteers can adapt their working programs to their conditions. Short-period volunteering that is carried through social media stands out. Also, average score as to the volunteering and virtual volunteering shows a remarkable difference according to the gender variable unlike the amount of education variable. Average score as to the volunteering and virtual volunteering shows a remarkable difference according to the volunteering variable, at the same time between the average score of the frequency of being a virtual volunteer and of volunteering perception, there has been a remarkable difference. Keywords: Volunteering, Virtual volunteering, Internet, social media