Meta-analysis of the relationship between virtual social networks and social capital in Iran

Virtual social networks, as one of the pillars of information and communication technologies, have brought about significant changes in the areas of human life. The current research was conducted with the aim of investigating the relationship between virtual social networks and social capital in the period of 2011 to 2021 in Iran. The method of this research is applied and meta-analytical, for which 19 studies that were conducted in the considered period were reviewed and according to the criteria of meta-analysis, 13 of these studies investigated the relationship between these two variables. have done and had reliable measures, they were selected. In order to review and analyze the findings, CMA software was used and the findings related to the homogeneity and publication bias of this research indicate the non-homogeneity of the effect size and the lack of publication bias of the selected studies, as well as the results of examining the moderator variables of the year of conducting the research and the location of the research. It has been mentioned about the moderating role of these two variables. The results indicate that the effect size of virtual social networks on social capital was equal to 0.312, which based on Cohen's interpretation system, virtual social networks have a moderate effect on social capital.