کیمیا اکبر

In this research, the role of virtual social networks on the level of social participation of Afghan students in Iran has been investigated. The importance of investigating the impact of virtual space is due to the provision of wide facilities that have been provided for students with the expansion of this space and has widened the field of their presence in social relations such as formal and informal social relations. The current research is applied in terms of purpose, descriptive-analytical in terms of research type, and survey in terms of implementation method. The research technique in this study is an online questionnaire. The statistical population of the research is Afghan students studying in Iran in ۱۴۰۲, which are more than eleven thousand people. According to Cochran's formula, the sample size was equal to ۳۷۲. This number of samples made it possible to continue the investigation, which was done with ۴۱۲ people for more certainty. In this research, questions were raised and given to the respondents, in which the purposes of use, the amount of use and the type of use of virtual social networks, the type of formal and informal activities, and efforts for collective social participation have been taken into account, and the answers obtained , shows the significant importance of virtual space for formal and informal social participation of Afghan students in Iran; Hence, the findings of this research show a significant relationship between the use of virtual space among the studied students and the growth of their social participation. It also shows a significant relationship between the degree of social belongingness and the degree of social participation of the studied students, in the sense that increasing the degree of social belongingness of the studied students leads to an increase in their social participation. The findings also show the lack of relationship between individual characteristics and social participation.

Keywords: Internet, Social Network, Social participation, Afgan students.