An analysis of the relationship between gender identity of young people using virtual social networks.

The Internet as a new communication technology has caused complex and rapid changes in human relationships and communication patterns and has a tremendous impact on the social and cultural structures of today's societies. Considering the expansion of virtual social networks among young people, including Facebook, this research aims to provide an analysis of the relationship of these networks on the gender identity of young people.

The present research is a quantitative survey approach and the required data was collected from a sample of 248 students of Mashhad Azad University through stratified sampling.

The findings of this study show that there is a positive relationship between the reflection of gender stereotypes in virtual social networks and gender identity in men and women. It also shows a positive and significant relationship between gender socialization in virtual social media through the representation of gender roles and gender identity of the women's group, while no significant relationship has been achieved in the case of the men's group. Other results show that as the amount of activity in virtual social media increases, the amount of acceptance and belonging to the gender identity of femininity decreases, but this relationship does not exist in the case of men.Other results show that as the amount of activity in virtual social media increases, the amount of acceptance and belonging to the gender identity of femininity decreases, but this relationship does not exist in the case of men.Keywords: virtual social networks, gender identity, gender schemas, gender socialization.