Faezeh Taghipour; Haniyeh Naghdi; Reza Ebrahimzadeh Dastjerdi
Abstract
1- Introduction
As a novel notion in the new context of human collective life, which guides sustainable human interactions, the culture of citizenship has attracted the attention of many researchers. The citizenship culture has been affected by the concept of culture and citizen throughout history. This ...
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1- Introduction
As a novel notion in the new context of human collective life, which guides sustainable human interactions, the culture of citizenship has attracted the attention of many researchers. The citizenship culture has been affected by the concept of culture and citizen throughout history. This concept used to make sense in the field of law and people's obedience to it; however, it has found an extensive meaning at present. The Internet and social networks are means to disseminate cultural symbols and are regarded as a source of information and awareness in a variety of domains, such as culture, and the factor of creating cultural changes and transformations of the people.
The aspects of the problem have become wider and the significance of the matter has been aggravated with the spread of smart cell phones and the capability of using them for searching social networks such as Instagram, WhatsApp, Telegram, Twitter, etc., and also the extensive utilization of these networks by people throughout the day and night. Today's social networks have caused persons in these networks to deal with preparing, producing, publishing, and republishing diverse information in different areas. Because of the ever-rising application of these networks, they will influence the citizenship culture of people from all walks of life, and ignoring this issue can impose irreparable losses. Hence, the necessity to study the advantages and disadvantages of these social networks is not a secret. However, regarding the reviews carried out on the previous research, the majority of these studies have examined this topic with different approaches and they have paid less attention to investigating the impacts of social networks on the culture of citizenship. Taking into account the broadness of citizens' use of social networks and their impressions on different dimensions of life, the need for research on these networks is evident. Thus, the current article sought to respond to the question that whether it is possible to propose a model that can upgrade the culture of citizenship using social networks by investigating the role of social networks on citizenship culture.
2- Literature Review
Matani et al. (2019) in a study entitled “Investigation of Using Mass Media and Adherence to Citizenship Culture (Case Study: Citizens over 18 Years Old in Ghaem Shahr City)” using field method, survey technique, and questionnaire instrument concluded that there is a positive and significant relationship between using mass media and the total level of adherence to the culture of citizenship and its dimensions, i.e. social participation, generalism, responsibility, the tendency to follow the law.
Ghafarinasab et al. (2019) in a study entitled “Sociological Explanation of Citizenship Culture (Case Study: Citizens 15 Years Above in Eqlid City)” argue that citizenship is one of the important indicators of progress and development in developing countries. One of the dimensions of citizenship is the culture of citizenship. The establishment and extension of citizenship can be seen as a serious way of solving the social problems in developing countries. Using the theories of Marshall, Janoski, Faulks, and Turner, they examine the culture of citizenship among the citizens of Eqlid City. Besides, they exploited the survey as a method and also the questionnaire as an instrument for collecting data. They selected the sample by using a manner called multi-stage cluster sampling. Results demonstrate that the citizenship culture among citizens is about over mean. The examination of the hypothesis indicates that variables such as gender, marital status, the degree of religious commitment, social identity, the extent of using media, and political awareness have a significant relationship with the culture of citizenship.
Askarizadeh (2019) conducted a study entitled “Identifying Social and Educational Factors Affecting the Promotion of Citizenship Culture in the Neighborhoods of Bandar Abbas City” with a descriptive survey-exploratory method using a random cluster sampling method. The sample size also included 458 people. Besides, the questionnaire instrument was exploited in this survey. Of the social factors, awareness of citizenship rights, rule of law and orderliness, collective interests, awareness of external and internal events, responsibility, generalism, use of cultural centers, and use of the media influenced the citizenship culture, respectively. Among the educational factors, legal infrastructure and bylaws, written and specific educational goals, executive structures, the existence of different training courses, acceptance of change among citizens, awareness & capability of officials, innovative management and supportive managers, the ability of citizens, the attitude of officials, the enthusiasm of citizens, incentives, communication between officials and citizens, technical infrastructure, presence of supporting human resources in setting up and supervision affect the citizenship culture, respectively.
3- Methodology
The present study intended to present a model for promoting citizenship culture based on using social networks among citizens of Tehran. This is an applied study by purpose, a cross-sectional study by the data collection time, and a qualitative research design by the procedure. A qualitative method with a grounded theory approach was adopted, and the theoretical sampling method was used. The statistical population of this research included specialists and experts in social networks and citizenship culture (university professors, city managers, etc.) that reached saturation and no additional data were found through conducting a new interview. The open, axial, and selective codes were extracted via analyzing the interviews. On the basis of Corbin & Strauss's grounded theory, the causal conditions, context, intervening conditions, action/interaction strategies, and consequences were then examined and identified. In accordance with the conceptual model, the conditions for the promotion of citizenship culture were eventually specified.
4- Conclusion
Interpreting and analyzing the statistical results revealed that social networks positively and significantly influence the dimensions of citizenship culture and upgrade the culture. Nevertheless, creating some changes and transformations is required in Iran in this regard so that effective performance in the direction of promoting citizenship culture based on social networks can be rendered. Nowadays, with the entry of virtual social networks in the lives of citizens, these networks have been greatly welcome to meet the needs of many people. These networks evidently affect different areas of life such that the consequences arising from the presence of these networks have found ostensible representation and it is undeniable. Furthermore, social networks are impressive to enhance and strengthen social interactions in virtual space and have unparalleled impacts on different aspects of citizens' lives.
