سعیده سنائی فر

Interpersonal communication is an inseparable part of human life, which is not possible to benefit from it only in a traditional way due to the advancement of technology. Therefore, the purpose of this research is the futures studies of interpersonal communication in the metaverse. In order to achieve the goal of the research, the methods of environmental scanning, scenario planning, and interviews with experts have been used. Thematic analysis, Pestel analysis, and SWOT analysis have also been used to examine the data. In environmental scanning, ۵۲ contents were examined and after two-stage analysis, ۵۱۳ codes were extracted and ۴۰ themes were selected from among them. These themes helped to build four scenarios based on Dator’s Manoa school, and finally four scenarios of growth, limitation and discipline, decline, and transformation were selected. These scenarios were introduced with the names of connecting two worlds, struggle for survival, lost dream, and reckless ascent. After the introduction, the role of metaverse actors in each scenario was examined to distinguish between the estimated scenarios. Then, in order to examine the four scenarios related to Iran, the opinion of specialists and experts in this field was asked, and the consequences of the scenarios, threats and opportunities of each were extracted by thematic analysis method. These scenarios were also examined in the theoretical part of the research along with important theories. According to the calculated average, according to the opinion of experts about the probability and desirability of the scenarios, the highest percentage was specific to the scenario of linking the two worlds. Finally, considering this scenario as a desirable scenario, suggestions were presented.