Cyberspace Studies

This paper looks at how Muslim women with an Iranian background and now living in Canada perform their identity through wearing the hijab. This was achieved by observing the behavior of six members of this community on Facebook using Erving Goffman’s stigmatization theory. The observation reveals that women who wear the hijab are more likely to identify themselves as Muslim-Canadian while those who have abandoned the hijab after immigration are more likely to identify themselves as Iranian-Canadian. Moreover, the results show that while Goffman’s theory is very useful in trying to understand the stigmatization of the veil after the 9/11 attacks as well as other extremists’ attacks, the pressures that this created on Muslim women, as well as the behavior of some women in dropping the veil in order to ‘pass’ such stigmatization, his theory is of limited use in understanding the more complicated performance of women who kept their hijab in spite of the challenges they faced.

This study seeks to identify and describe believable and probable scenarios about the future engagement of children in cyberspace from the perspective of futures studies. Children's and adolescents’ access to the Internet and network-based technologies is becoming increasingly prevalent. So explaining the key factors and uncertainties affecting this phenomenon requires a comprehensive insight into current and emerging trends and the change drivers. For this purpose, after reviewing several useful technological and social trends, using scenario-based planning methodology, questionnaire tools and expert panel, 28 effective factors, ten key factors, and five driver forces (with uncertainty) were identified. Then, structural analysis and scenario logic explanations have been performed by Micmac, Scenario wizards, and cross-impact matrix analysis. Accordingly, the four scenarios of “salmon in the pool”, “salmon in the river”, “guppy in the tank”, and “goldfish in the pond” have been identified and narrated for the future of Iranian children's engagement in cyberspace. The findings of this study provide a more comprehensive understanding of believable futures while emphasizing the importance of engaging and addressing the interests of audiences and the needs of stakeholders in designing relevant strategies and broadening the horizons of decision-makers toward future alternatives.

This research aims to provide a theoretical model to explain addiction to social network using media literacy and emotional intelligence as independent variables and social support as the mediator. The study population includes all students of Bojnord’s university in 2017-2018 academic year. It was determined based on three indices: a medium effect size of 0.30, a test power of 0.85, and an alpha of 0.05. A sample of 160 people was determined by G-Power software, and 178 questionnaires were completed. The sampling was conducted using available sampling method. To do so, the link of research questionnaires was offered to volunteer students. The main research instruments were: social support questionnaire, addiction to social network questionnaire, emotional intelligence questionnaire and multidimensional social support questionnaire. The exploratory nature of research data was analyzed by partial least squares method and PLS software. Results showed the reliability of the measurement model, the structural model and the overall research model (GOF=0.66). According to the results, all direct effects were significant. That is, social support(r=0.84, p <0.0001), media literacy (r=0.698, p <0.0001) and emotional intelligence (r=0.798, p <0.0001) were significantly correlated with addiction to virtual social network. Also, Sobel statistics and its significance level suggested the indirect effect of media literacy (p <0.024) and emotional intelligence (p <0.011) on addiction to social network through social support. Emotional impulse control, awareness of media content and processes, and a sense of belonging and relationship with other people in the real world predict addiction to virtual social networks. Hence, the social support of government and authentic sources can mediate the association between addiction to social network and emotional intelligence in university students and improve their media literacy.

Since its inception in the late 1960s and especially following its commercialization in the mid-1990s, the Internet has experienced exponential growth. As artificial intelligence (AI) has surpassed previously inconceivable boundaries, it has become evident that AI both poses a threat to aspects of human existence and offers potential avenues for a more human-centric future. This paper contends that a digital existence, by its intrinsic nature, engenders a sense of discontentment. Paradoxically, within this digital realm, remedies emerge that elude offline experiences. While chatbots initially served as sources of amusement, their capacity to provide accessible and dependable counseling services has now become indispensable. Our assertion is that in the years to come, as chatbot technology advances further in sophistication, hundreds of millions of individuals worldwide will gain access to improved lives through the provision of free counseling services. Consequently, therapy will 

We are currently the beneficiaries of the aspirations of our predecessors, who ardently pursued ideals such as safety, access to quality medical care, social justice, and an effective life. Significantly, and particularly pertinent to our discussion here, we have been granted the power of expression. In today's world, virtually anyone can articulate their views on a wide spectrum of social and political subjects. This fundamental right has been so comprehensively realized that even various unelected authorities have been compelled to devise alternative methods to suppress the freedom of speech. On a theoretical level, one might assume that everything is ideally aligned with the visions of our forebears. However, practical reality paints a more ambiguous picture. Some scholars have employed the somewhat disparaging term "slacktivism" to argue that the impact of online engagement in the public sphere may not be as transformative as initially anticipated. While individuals undoubtedly possess the means to voice their opinions, the question arises as to whether online activism has produced substantial change. In this scholarly inquiry, we undertake a critical examination of the efficacy of activism through social media channels and explore strategies for maximizing its potential.

AI is developing so fast that philosophers of technology could not keep up with philosophizing it. AI promises to augment human capabilities, offering new insights and efficiencies. However, it also raises concerns about diminished autonomy and decision-making skills. Balancing AI's potential with ethical considerations is crucial to ensure it acts as a tool that enriches, rather than diminishes, human agency. In the present study, we interviewed a group of 62 tech-savvy professionals from Iran's technology sector to see how they think about the relationship between a much more powerful AI in the future and its relationship with human agency. Since these participants were -supposedly- more acquaint with AI and its capabilities, we decided interviewing them would yield important insights. After qualitatively analyzing our data, we came into five main categories of perspectives on AI and future of human agency: Augmentation and Enhancement, Displacement and Dependency, Collaboration and Partnership, Control and Ethics, and, Transformation and Transcendence. For each category, we provided examples from our interviews.