Effect of Virtual Social Networks on Religious Orientation, Ethics, Academic Achievement and Leisure among the Youth in Hamedan Province

Social networks are the new media that are built based on public participation. Today, users especially young people spend a considerable amount of time in cyberspace daily. So, these networks have become an influential factor in many components of people's lives. The study is to identify the goals, extent and manner of use of virtual social networks by the youth in Hamedan province and also the effect of these networks on four variables of youth religious orientation, ethics, academic achievement and leisure. The statistical population consisted of all people aged 18 to 35 years in Hamedan province. The statistical sample size of the study included 412 people which was calculated using Cochran's formula. The research measurement tool was a researcher-made questionnaire with a Likert scale that its face and content validity was confirmed by experts. Also, 0/79 reliability using Cronbach's alpha value was acceptable.The findings indicated the negative effect of these networks on religious orientation and morals of young people, its positive effect on academic activities and academic achievement, and the lack of significance regarding the effect of social networks on youth leisure.The results showed that most young people spend 1-2 hours a day using social networks. Also, the social networks of Telegram, WhatsApp, Instagram, Eitaa, and Soroush Plus are at the top of the most popular foreign and domestic social networks, and chatting and searching on Instagram are the most frequent behaviors of young people in these networks.