Virtualization of Generational Actions: A Study of the Process of the Construction of Generational Meanings in Virtual Social Networks

The expansion of virtual social networks and the Internet have become a major challenge to socialization in a way that they have led sociologists speak of the concept of "online socialization". Generational differences in socialization process (virtual and non-virtual) may result in the formation of different meanings and meaningful objects. The present research is based on the paradigm of interpretive- social constructionism using the "virtual ethnography" method. The population of the study consisted of 27 participants selected through theoretical and purposive sampling method. These participants were active users of “Telegram” and “Viber” social networks. The data was collected by open and in-depth qualitative interviews. The analysis of the data was conducted using the grounded theory approach, particularly Glazer’s three stage coding method. The findings of this study showed that the limitations of the objective world on the one hand and the fantasies of the cyberspace on the other, led the young subjects to the use of virtual social networks and ultimately to the virtualization of actions. Virtual subjects constructed their own subjective world, which in general could be different from the objective and the real world with respect to meanings and objects (in terms of fluidity and the speed of change). The results also showed that membership and the use of virtual social networks led to the construction of inter-generational gaps in meanings, meanings confusion, objective fluidity and a type of dual core generational meanings. This could contribute to inter-generational distinctions in meaning and identity as well as generation gap.