Virtual space and social media studies

Virtual space and social media studies

The relationship between social networks and the desire for local participation of young people in Tehran (Case of study: Telegram)

Document Type : Original Article

Author
Assistant Professor of Political Sociology, Farabi Faculty, Army University. Email: Bigdeloo@alumni.ut.ac.ir
Abstract
The quantitative and qualitative increase in the participation of young people in society and the formation of a culture of participation among this generation can be considered as one of the basic requirements of development with the lowest possible cost, and the first step to achieve this goal is to identify social phenomena and examine their relationship with participation at the primary (local) levels. One of the current phenomena in Iranian society in recent years is the emergence of social networks such as Telegram among young people, which is of double importance in disadvantaged neighborhoods that are at an inappropriate level of development.

The purpose of this article is to investigate the relationship between the use of social networks (Telegram) and the local participation of young people and the statistics of the most relevant component of local participation.

The current research, assuming Hutchings' approach to social networks and in the framework of the theory of Tin and his colleagues (2002), investigated the relationship between two variables and after analyzing the data from the questionnaire using Spearman's method, it came to the conclusion that among the six components of local participation, the relationship between the use of Telegram and participation in the ceremonies of neighbors and neighbors is meaningless and has a significant relationship with the rest of the components.
Keywords

Abdullahi Nejad, Alireza, Abuzar Ghasminejad and Javad Sadeghi (2015). Social media and political participation in elections (the relationship between the use of Facebook, Telegram and Instagram and the political participation of students in the 7th March 2014 elections), New Media Studies,2 (5), 33-74. Doi: https://nms.atu.ac.ir/article_7004.html [In Persian]
Ahmadi, Yaqoub (2018). The impact of social capital in social networks on political participation (case study: Sanandaj citizens aged 18 and over), Applied Sociology Journal, 30(3), 1-22. Doi: https://jas.ui.ac.ir/article_24027.html [In Persian]
Akhwan Malairi, Faizeh and Noghani, Mohsen and Mazloum Khorasani, Mohammad (2013). Virtual Social Networks and Happiness, Media and Culture, 4 (2), 1-24, Doi: https://mediastudy.ihcs.ac.ir/issue_297_332.html [In Persian]
Anabestani, Shayan (2018). Estimating the impact of women's participation on social capital in rural areas., Applied Research in Geographical Sciences, 11 (21), 69-90. Doi: https://profdoc.um.ac.ir/paper-abstract-1024954.html [In Persian]
Azizpour Hamidi, Chabek (2014). Analysis of local participation in flood risk management in rural areas, Spatial Analysis of Environmental Risks, 2 (4), 77-94. Doi: https://system.khu.ac.ir/jsaeh/article-1-2534-fa.html&sw [In Persian]
Beaunier, J. and Veneti, A., (2020). Social media and political participation among British youth. Journal of Promotional Communications, 8(1),41-59.
Boulianne S (2015). Social media use and participation: A meta-analysis of current research. Information Communication & Society, 18(5): 524–538.
Brugman, Yeron (2013). An Introduction to Social Networks, translated by Khalil Mirzai, second edition, Tehran: Sociologists Publications. [In Persian]
Cai Y & Zhou T (2019). Online political participation in China: Local government and differentiated response. The China Quarterly, 238 ,331-352. https://doi.org/10.1017/ S0305741019000055.
Castells, Manuel (2013). The power of communication, translated by Hossein Basirian Jahromi, Tehran: Culture, Art and Communication Research Institute of the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance. [In Persian]
Ceron, Andrea &  Luigi Curini & Stefano M. Iacus (2019). ISIS at Its Apogee: The Arabic Discourse on Twitter and What We Can Learn From That About ISIS Support and Foreign Fighters, SAGE Open January, 1– 14 , DOI: 10.1177/2158244018789229
Chengping, CHEN (2020). The Influence of Social Network on Youth Political Expression, Canadian Social Science, 16 (2),25-30. DOI:10.3968/11580
Chomsk, N. (2023). The False Promise of ChatGPT. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/08/opinion/noam-chomsky-chatgpt-ai.html
Coe, Peter (2015). The social media paradox: an intersection with freedom of expression and the criminal law, Information& Communications Technology Law, 24 (1), 16-40, Routledge: Taylor & Francis Group.
Dashtinejad, Pejman (2015), Security System for Mobile Messaging Applications, Master of Science Thesis, Department of ICT, KTH University, Stockholm, Sweden.
Ghafari, Gholamreza, Nikbein Sadaqati, Fatemeh, Ismailzadeh, Khaled (2012). Women's social participation and its effect on family well-being (Case study: District 9 of Tehran), Women and Family Studies, 5 (18), 33-62. Doi: https://journals.iau.ir/article_519746.html [In Persian]
Gibson, R. and Cantijoch, M., (2013). Conceptualising and Measuring Participation in the Age of the Internet: Is Online Political Engagement Really Different to Offline? The Journal of Politics [online], 75 (3), 701-716.
Goncalves, Jorge & Liu, Yong & Xiao, Bin & Chaudhry, Saad & Hosio, Simo & Kostakos, Vassilis (2015). Increasing the Reach of Government Social Media: A Case Study in Modeling Government-Citizen Interaction on Facebook, Policy Studies Organization, USA: Wiley Periodicals.
Halpern D and Gibbs J (2013). Social media as a catalyst for online deliberation? Exploring the affordances of Facebook and YouTube for political expression. Computers in Human Behavior, 29 (3): 1159–1168.
Harris, Lisa & Harrigan, Paul (2015), Social media in politics: the ultimate voter engagement tool or simply an Echo chamber? Journal of Political Marketing, 14, 251-283.
Hjarvard, S. (2008). The mediatization of religion: A theory of the media as agents of religious change. Northern Lights, Film & Media Studies
Yearbook
, 6(1), 9-26.
Hutchings, T. (2012). Network Theology: Christian Understandings of New Media. Journal of Religion, Media and Digital Culture, 1(1), 1-14.
Jafari, Ali (1400). the effect of using virtual social networks on citizens' civic participation (case study: citizens over 18 years of age in Ardabil city), New Media Studies Journal, 7 (27), 233-256. Doi: https://nms.atu.ac.ir/article_13612.html [In Persian]
Jezini, Alireza, Mansour Taghavi and Elaha Norouzi (2016). The impact of information and communication technology on the promotion of citizens' social participation, Urban Management, 16 (46), 445-458. Doi: https://ijurm.imo.org.ir/article-1-1539-fa.html [In Persian]
Johnson, Thomas & Kaye, Barbara (2014). Credibility of Social Network Sites for Political Information Among Politically Interested Internet Users, Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication,19, 957-974.
Karami, Azadullah and Hojatullah Almasi (2013). Investigation and comparison of Viber and WhatsApp capabilities in higher education, Education and Learning Technology, 1 (3), 37-56. Doi: https://jti.atu.ac.ir/article_1815.html [In Persian]
Khalji, Mohammad (2017). Virtual Social Networks and Empowerment: A Study of the Impact of Virtual Social Networks on Citizens' Participation in Development, Satellite and New Media Studies, 15 - 16, 61-86. Doi: https://jas.ui.ac.ir/article_24027.html [In Persian]
Kreiber, Glenn and Martin, Royston (2018). Digital Cultures, translated by Marzieh Vahdani, Tehran: Saqi Publishing House. [In Persian]
Larsson AO (2017). Going viral? Comparing parties on social media during the 2014 Swedish election. Convergence: The International Journal of Research into New Media Technologies, 23(2): 117–131.
Lee, Paul S. N. & Clement Y. K. So & Louis Leung (2015). Social media and Umbrella Movement: insurgent public sphere in formation, Chinese Journal of Communication, 8:4, 356-375, DOI: 10.1080/17544750.2015.1088874
Mojtahedi Najafi, Mahmoud and Hamzeh, Farhad and Akhbari, Mohammad (1402). Investigation of the impact of social networks on the political demands of users (a comparative study of Telegram and Instagram networks), Space Political Analysis Quarterly, 6 (1),122-134. Doi: https://www.gahr.ir/article_190006.html [In Persian]
Moradian, Yaqub, Samanipour, Youssef (2024). The role of virtual social networks in women's body management (with emphasis on Telegram and Instagram), Quarterly Journal of Virtual Space and Social Media, 1 (2), 39 – 71. https://cssms.ricac.ac.ir/article_210035.html [In Persian]
Najafi, Yousef and Leila Niromand (2016). Telegram's relationship with the incidence of individualism in families (a case study of families in Zanjan city), Media Management, 25, 21-30. Doi: https://www.mediamgt.ir/?_action=article&au=1180999&_au [In Persian]
Naqib al-Sadat, Sayyed Reza; Sadeghi, Javad; Khamse, Mahnaz (1400). the role of mobile social networks in the generational relationships of Allameh Tabatabai University students, Journal of Interdisciplinary Studies in Communication and Media,2,101-142. Doi: https://jiscm.iribu.ac.ir/article_135652.html [In Persian]
Newman, Bobbi L. (2014). Polarized and linking it: How political polarization affects active avoidance behavior on Facebook, A thesis for the degree of Master of Arts, Iowa State University.
Noorani Asyabar, Zahra; Shiri, Thamworth; Mohseni, Reza Ali (2016). examining the effects of social networks on the participation of Tehrani citizens with the intervention of cultural capital and social trust, Journal of Intercultural Studies,12 (32),61-85. Doi: https://journals.iau.ir/article_538527.html [In Persian]
Ojaq, Sayedah Zahra and Seyedrasoul Mirzaei Mousavi (2015). Analysis of communication actions and influence management in Telegram groups, New Media Studies, 2(5), 75-100. Doi: https://nms.atu.ac.ir/article_7035.html [In Persian]
Rasouli, Mohammadreza and Moradi, Maryam (2011). Effective factors on content creation in social networks, Social Sciences,56. Doi: https://www.sid.ir/paper/495800/fa [In Persian]
Rezaian, Alie; Idrisi, Afsana (2017). the impact of social networks and social trust on the cultural consumption of the fourth generation (eighties) with an emphasis on Telegram, Instagram and Twitter, Cultural Sociology Journal, 9 (2), 29-54. Doi: https://socialstudy.ihcs.ac.ir/article_3484.html [In Persian]
Saud, Muhammad & Rachmah Ida & Musta’in Mashud (2020). Democratic practices and youth in political participation: a doctoral study, International Journal of Adolescence and Youth, 25:1, 800-808, DOI: 10.1080/02673843.2020.1746676
Taghipoor, Reza, Poorjafari, Alireza (2024). Investigating the demographic relationship of young  people with their interest in news topics in Telegram messenger, Quarterly Journal of Virtual Space and Social Media, 1 (1), 183 – 207. https://doi.org / 10.22083/cssms.2024.206849 [In Persian]
Tapscott, D. (2009). Grown up digital: How the Net generation is changing your world. New York: McGraw-Hill.
Tavakoli-Naghmeh, Nemati, Grossi (2018). .Measurement and evaluation of the level of local participation in the implementation of urban improvement and renovation projects., Geographical Land, 16 (63), 40-50. Doi: https://www.sid.ir/paper/951331/fa [In Persian]
Van Deth, J. W., (2014). A Conceptual Map of Political Participation. Acta Politica [online], 49 (3), 349-367.
Van Schie (2015).When Icarus Flew too High: Moral Mediation in Mobile Instant Messaging Apps, Master Thesis New Media and Digital Culture, University of Groningen, Nederland.
Xenos M, Vromen A, and Loader BD (2014). The great equalizer? Patterns of social media use and youth political engagement in three advanced democracies. Information Communication & Society, 17(2):151–167.
Young, Jennifer (2012). political conversations on Facebook: An exploration of practices, A thesis submitted to the faculty of the Graduate school of Arts and Sciences of Georgetown University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in communication, culture, and technology, Washington DC.
Zainli, Hananeh, Mohammad Soltanifar and Afshana Mozafari (2017). Evaluation of the role of mobile social networks on the development of social participation, Iran Social Development Studies, 10 (4), 108-97. Doi: https://sanad.iau.ir/fa/Article/819773 [In Persian]
Zakaria Netaj, Jalal (1400). Investigating the impact of using social networks in municipal public relations on the participation of Babol citizens, Sociology of Communication Journal, 2 (5),19-32. Doi: https://jsc.daneshpajoohan.ac.ir/fa/downloadpaper.php?pid=141&rid=40&p=A [In Persian]
Zandavanian, Ahmad and Zohra Zainul Abdini (2016). The relationship between computer literacy and experience of virtual social networks in female students of Yazd University, Higher Education Letter, new period, 9 (33), 63-81. Doi: https://ensani.ir/fa/article/582948 [In Persian]

  • Receive Date 27 October 2024
  • Revise Date 21 February 2025
  • Accept Date 24 February 2025
  • First Publish Date 24 February 2025
  • Publish Date 19 February 2025