The role of Membership and Participation in Admissible Virtual Social Networks on Cultural Convergence (Case study: the Young Members of FACE NAMA in Qom)

Abstract

The appearance of different social media has been very influential in individuals' life. The most common social networks are virtual social networks which have been fascinated by many users because of a lot of similarities with human society, and communications and interactions which are formed in it. This study investigates the role of membership and participation in virtual social network on cultural convergence. Manuel Castells and Giddens's theories are applied as theoretical framework. This study is a survey study which was conducted through by distributing the questionnaires among FACENAMAvirtual social network in Qom city. The sampling method was simple random and the sample size included group of 400 members. This study investigates the role of participation and membership in virtual social network on cultural convergence based on Sharing personal experiences, expressing opinions about up to date social issues, trivializing the genders of the members, virtual social networks, avoiding ethnocentrism, inattention to spatial and local position. The results show that there is a significant relationship between participation and membership in virtual social network and cultural convergence. The implications to both research and practice are provided in this paper.