Analyzing the effects of using Virtual Social Networks in the Transformation of Rural Communities Case study: Malekan County

The required data were collected through documentary and field studies, including observation, semi structured interviews, and Q cards. The participant community included experts and local actors such as village administrators (Dehyars), members of Islamic village councils, managers of virtual channels and groups, teachers, economic activists, and rural youth. The research statements and the consequences of using cyberspace were identified using the grounded theory approach and the process of open, axial, and selective coding. Subsequently, Q cards were prepared and provided to the statistical population, and the data obtained from these cards were analyzed using exploratory factor analysis. The results of the study showed that virtual social networks have dual consequences in rural communities; in such a way that, on the one hand, they provide the ground for facilitating the marketing and sale of rural products, increasing access to information, strengthening social communications, expanding small businesses, and enhancing social awareness, and on the other hand, they can lead to the weakening of traditional values and norms, a reduction in face to face interactions, the emergence of certain social and psychological harms, a decline in academic performance, and the weakening of family relationships. The results obtained from the Q analysis were explained in seven main factors, in which the most important effects of virtual social networks were analyzed in the factors of improving the economic and communicative functions of villages with an eigenvalue of 6.11, and increasing cultural changes and social harms with a value of 2.64.