Investigating the role of mobile-based social network in the reproduction of the ethnic identity of Kurdish students in Tehran universities

The purpose of this article is to survey the role of mobile social network in reproduction of the ethnic identity of Kurdish students in Tehran universities. To this end, using the deductive strategy, we have set up a theoretical framework for compilation (the theory of Domestication of Media, Ted Robert gurr's Ethno-Political Identity Theory and Henri Tajfel's social identity Theory). The data collection tool was a written questionnaire. A sample of 400 students from Kurds in social sciences and human sciences of Tarbiat Modarres, Tehran, Shahid Beheshti, Allameh Tabataba'i and Shahed universities were surveyed using cluster sampling. The statistical analysis of the survey also revealed that the social software programs included the Telegram, the Instagram, WhatsApp and Emo. Analytical results have shown that Telegram and Instagram, without controlling the impact of political, social and cultural variables, have been related to the ethnic identity of students, but by controlling the impact of these variables, the impact of the use of social media on telegrams and Instagram has been greatly reduced. Thus, the present paper has shown that modern social media is only a new way of representing the identity of individuals and the main causes of ethnic identity escalation should be sought in the offline world and among structural causes such as relative deprivation, dissatisfaction, ethnical life experience, and so on.