Social Networking Virtual World and Youth Lifestyle: Meta-Analysis of Literature Review

An overview of research drawn up on the impact of social networking virtual world on the lifestyle of young people reveals different and sometimes contradictory results, for which the reasons can be achieved mainly through a methodological meta-analysis. For this purpose, after initial refining, 16 Journal articles selected through Magiran scientific information database and meta-analyzed based on different methodological standards and theoretical frameworks used. The overall picture obtained from this research, shows lack of theory construction, domination of survey method, absence of mixed methods, fragmentation and lack of coherence in the operationalization of lifestyle, different understanding of social networking media, limitation of social networking media studied, methodological lag in regard to theoretical framework, and ignoring the validity of research tools, generalization despite using non-probability sampling methods and subjective evaluation of the impacts of social networking media, all of which can explain differences and contradictions in the results obtained in the reviewed studies