Study of the relationship between digitalization of media consumption and the sense of social security among citizens of Tehran

Digital media, as one of the important sources of communication and information in the social system, plays a vital role in creating and depriving the sense of social security. The present study aims to investigate the relationship between the digitalization of media consumption and the sense of social security among citizens of Tehran. The present article attempts to answer the question of how digitalization of media consumption is related to financial security, emotional security, communication security, and information security. In this regard, we have used a researcher-made questionnaire through a survey method. The statistical population of the study consisted of citizens over 15 years of age in Tehran among which 420 people were selected using a multi-stage clustering method. The analysis of the collected data revealed that excessive use and dependence on digital media such as social networks leads to a decrease in users’ sense of social security. The trust and emotional, information, and social support received from virtual social networks allow the user to spend a lot of time in cyberspace and easily share personal information. Upon the expansion of communication in cyberspace, users’ emotional dependence on this space is increasing drastically, however their uninformed activity and lack of necessary cyber knowledge endanger their privacy and reduce the sense of social security.