Identifying Effective Ways to Empower Users to Enhance Cultural Security

This study aimed to identify the factors that affect the empowerment of social media users in the field of cultural security. To this end, 32 managers, experts, and professors of communication, media, cyberspace, cyber security, and culture were selected through purposeful sampling and studied using qualitative content analysis with an inductive approach. The data collection tool in this study was semi-structured in-depth interviews, and data collection continued until theoretical saturation of information. The findings of the study were implemented and classified in three stages of open, selective, and theoretical coding. The findings included three categories of causal, contextual, and effects of this empowerment in the field of cultural security and social media. The causal factors of this study included: user communication behavior, messenger features, individual and personality characteristics, and cultural security in the virtual structure. Also, contextual factors included: cultural information, cultural commitment, familiarity with integration approaches in social media governance, confidentiality and accessibility of virtual data, strengthening cultural symbols and cultural infrastructure of users from the perspective of participants. Finally, in terms of the effects of user empowerment, it can be mentioned the effectiveness of user performance, the impact of content production, technological foresight, and cultural luxuries.