The Cultural Implications of Consumption of Information-Communication Technologies for Tehran Middle Class

Twenty-first century was launched once the computer revolution reached into its climax in IT, the combination of informational technologies with communication technologies, and the process of “smartization” entered into the level of mass consumption. This “somartization” was an opportunity to stay online continuously. The mass dilemma of being online without any specialization resolved. Many celebrate the “liberation” of humane, but the problem goes another way; whereas the internet was the icon of decentralization of power and hence liberating the individuals, it became an inner control means in practice; social media became a place for bombardment of the mass with news (both fake and real). Hence, it opiates the mass with the idea of security. People learn to seek their savior through internet, and their smartphone became a great member of their family, in fact the main member, without whom it was fear and trembling. After all, the consequence of being connected was the metamorphosis in the notion of the communication itself. Our struggle thorough this paper is to discover the cultural significance of this situation based on the evidence retrieved from field with an interpretative ethnography as our main approach amongst Tehrani middle class consumers of iPhone.