1. Introduction
While no one still imagined that the social aspect of the Internet would one day become its main application, Internet social networks emerged. This issue has received so much attention among Internet users that it can be boldly said that social networks are one of the most effective services provided on the Internet. Social networks are a generation of databases that are in the spotlight of Internet users these days. These are types of online activities, and each brings together a group of Internet users with specific features. According to social thinker Alfred Schütz, “public opinion” is the esoteric conscience of a nation. Public opinion this anonymous power is often a political force not enshrined in any constitution (Motavali, 2005: 96). The most important tool for shaping public opinion is the media. The advent of the digital media age, especially cyberspace and social networks, has had a complex impact on public opinion. New media have formed a new type of interpersonal relationship that is interpreted as virtual communication. These virtual connections between people in the form of virtual forms such as social networks are based on public participation. With the increasing use of cyberspace by the public, we have witnessed the growth and influence of social networks in various political and social developments, the direction of public opinion and even the collapse of political and social systems based in different parts of the world (Ebrahimi far & Yagoubi far, 2014: 70).
Information and communication technologies have entered all social, Organizational and individual spaces in human societies have affected daily life, work and knowledge. The availability of these technologies is the occurrence of a ”paradigm shift” in human individual and social life in which even ancient concepts can be identified with new epistemological geometry. According to Manuel Castells, new information technologies connect the corners of the world in global networks and create computer communications, thus affecting all human material and spiritual processes (Castells, 1991: 48). In fact, in proportion to the benefit of societies from information and communication technologies and playing a role in communication and interaction between people and the exchange of information and society’s access to this process, social change is accelerating and intensifying. It is not an exaggeration to say that there is a strong link between information and communication technologies and the formation of social life (Gripenberg, 2005: 2). Although new technology is defined in terms of technical and instrumental aspects, the social sciences look at this phenomenon in terms of its contexts, practices, effects, and outcomes. Dennis Mc Queel (2003) argues that we don’t need to be a technological determinist to believe that the form of technology that involves a device can have a profound effect on the content and perception of what communications and His possible effects. Andreas Kaplan and Michael Haenlein define social media as “a set of Internet-based tools based on the ideology and technology of Web2 that allow users to generate and share content.” (Kaplan & Haenlein, 2010: 68).
From the population of about 84 million people in Iran in 2021, there are about 59 million Internet users, which is a very serious potential for the development of cyberspace. According to official statistics, there are about 33 million users in Iranian social networks in 2020. The growth of Iranian users compared to the same period last year is about 2.5 percent, but the Internet speed in Iran is still lower than other countries (Bakhshipour, 2020). According to unofficial statistics, the number of active Iranian users in Telegram is estimated at 50 million; this means that more than 10% of Telegram users are Iranian, and considering that it is filtered in the country, this share is significant. In 2020, due to the corona crisis in the country, people had a strange tendency to social networks and therefore have multiplied their activities in these spaces. According to published reports, more than 80% of online purchases are from social networks, especially Telegram and Instagram (Ghanbari, 2021).