The Role of Virtual media on National Identity Orientation

Identity is one of the primal needs of mankind. As men recognize themselves, they encounter this subject matter. But it is important to know how environment affects identity. Collective and individual factors have special effect on identity formation. Nowadays media has a more important role in creating the concept of "we" in our societies. This research aims to explain the role of virtual media in inclination for collective identity and social integrity. This paper, in light of a comprehensive national research, tries to answer the main question of this research which is the analysis of the effect of using virtual media on national identity and its volatility. This research is a survey research and its questionnaire are handed out among 31 provinces of Iran. According to this study, Internet access has a direct relationship with people's national identity level. The extent of using Internet reveals that as Internet access increases, national identity elements become weaker. Having personal email account or weblog, and the usage extent of virtual social networks are two other factors studied in this paper. Therefore, there is a serious effective relationship between virtual media and national identity.