The Relationship between Virtual Social Networks and the Transformation of Collective Identities

This study aims at investigating impacts of social networks on the transformation of collective identities. The article sheds light on this issue by analyzing how using new technologies including social networks embraced by theories of Giddens and Castells can be influenced individuals’ identities. Our study populations are Isfahan city citizens which were selected 536 of them as a statistical sample by proportional quota sampling. In this regard, results reveal that social networks have both the greatest and the least effects on modern and national identities respectively through using different coefficients of determination (of 11.4% & 1.5%). But the research findings show that while some components of social networks have significant negative impacts on religious and national identities, duration of membership in virtual social networks as well as the realization of social networks’ contents has had positive impacts on their orientations towards the modern identity.