Content analysis of religious Facebook pages

Master's Thesis

Abstract

The subject of this research is the analysis of the content of religious Facebook pages, and during it, an attempt has been made to analyze the structure of religious pages in the Facebook space, considering the importance of Facebook in the virtual space and also the place of religion in life. The existence of many religious pages raises the question of what is the content of religious pages in the Facebook space? The statistical population of this research is all Persian-language Facebook religious pages that we obtained based on snowball sampling, and 30 pages were randomly selected from among them. The data collection technique of this research is a reverse questionnaire, which was processed through the Spss21 software. The findings of the research show that men are more active than women in the studied society, and the pages that are managed as a group have more richness. Language

Chapter One: Generalities of Research

Foreword:

The Internet, as one of the most important inventions of mankind in the last century, with its numerous and extensive capabilities and functions, has put different parts of human life under its positive and negative effects. The basis and main goal of the Internet is to remove the geographical distance between people around the world and to create a transformation in the field of communication and information exchange. The Internet started its work as a communication tool for scientists, especially for the exchange of data and research resources, or in other words for the creation of scientific society, and over time it was able to improve itself to the level of communication between people through electronic mail. After some time, the Internet was noticed as a new space for the expansion of business activities in financial transfers, marketing and also as a follow-up tool for consumers. Blogs and websites, online chat software, email services, etc. There were new possibilities that were made available to users in the light of the Internet and the World Wide Web.

While no one imagined that one day the social aspect of the Internet would become its main use, Internet social networks came into being. This topic was so welcomed among the internet users that it can be safely said that one of the most influential services provided on the internet and the web, which in recent years has brought about a tremendous transformation in the social system of different countries, has been social networks. Social networks are a new generation of databases that are in the focus of internet users these days. Such bases operate on the basis of online organizations and each of them brings together a group of Internet users with special characteristics. Social networks are considered a type of media that have made it possible to achieve a new form of communication and content sharing on the Internet. The human world is rapidly transitioning from a network society to the progress and benefit of new communication and information technology and the formation of virtual social networks.

Social networks, as a new phenomenon of the new generation of the web, have been able to expand the ideals of people in all fields by using new communication technologies, so that due to the availability of appropriate capacities, they create the conditions for development in all social, economic, cultural and political dimensions. In line with the changes and transformations that virtual networks brought about in all human life, religion also entered these changes and transformations. The virtual reality of religion reflects the emergence of religion in a new world, which can be interpreted as a virtual world or a virtual real world or a real virtual world. The industry related to this world, which can also be interpreted as an alternative world or the second world, tries to transfer all religious feelings, including religious beliefs, religious ceremonies and rituals, and religious struggles to the virtual reality space. 1.1. Problem design

As a result of the rapid developments of the virtual world, "the field of religion and religious belief" has undergone severe changes. These developments may be harmful and create crisis and endanger religious security or create opportunities.In the past, at least in Iran, the religious system operated to a large extent in places such as seminaries, or it was in the hands of people such as mystics who worked on the margins of the seminary, as well as structures such as mosques, which were run by preachers and speakers, or were presented in secondary structures such as monasteries. These same structures, which are triangular and to a large extent, have been challenged in the digital arena. Not only within the national borders, pluralism is being formed in the field of religion, but also beyond these borders, various interpretations and approaches are being offered; For example, in Islam, there have been various branches of Shia and Sunni religions, as well as some heretics; In any case, this religion throughout history has always lived in its own geography and has not encountered much opposition, secondly, doubts and heresies have arisen over many years; Therefore, a generation dealt with a few cases of doubts or different ideas.

Now in the age of the Internet, all the doubts, approaches and ideas accumulated in history about Islam, such as Satanism, shamanism, idolatry, atheism, pantheism and so on. is being offered; That is, a person with traditional religious literacy enters a world where thousands of doubts and thousands of cloaks are presented to him at the same time; Without having enough tools and accessories to doubt and judge his beliefs.

This phenomenon can be an opportunity for thinking, rationalization, deeper rethinking and refinement of religious rites, rituals and sentiments and help a generation so that people can define the concept of religion more widely with a human, geographical and historical experience; A concept that is not so flawed.

But if this process is not managed, it may be considered the biggest challenge and the same events will happen that there are statistics about Satanism, how many prophets and Gods appear every year. Different attitudes from the audience, politicians and statesmen towards the category of social networks and attempts to block and limit these networks, and on the other hand, the enthusiasm of Internet users, especially young people, to join these networks raises the question of whether social networks (Facebook) can serve religion?

0102 Importance and necessity of research

The relationship between religion and media dates back at least to the invention of print. From that time until now, creating a correct and effective relationship between religion and the media and setting up a mechanism and providing cooperation that helps to establish an effective relationship between them has always been of interest (Javadi Yeganeh and Abdullahian, 1388: 115).

Today, social networks have become a meeting place and a place for the birth of different and wide-ranging thoughts and ideas for the field of ideas and thoughts. be taken into account differently. In the field of religious interactions, this space and its capacities can be considered as a good opportunity to project religious ideas. Today, religious communication as an interdisciplinary science and of course a new and extensive science requires study and research.

It seems that the most important negative consequence that the promotion and expansion of this social network can have in today's society is anti-religious propaganda and instilling doubts in order to destroy beliefs and convictions in this media. And the research is clear to make the ground for intelligent planning and appropriate to the capacities of the society and instead of erasing the problem and applying filtering, use the opportunities of this space. Since young people spend many hours on the Facebook social network, it is a suitable space for officials and people who are concerned about religious issues to take a positive step in strengthening the religious beliefs of the youth by conducting research and understanding it and harmonizing this space with the cultural and social conditions of the society. The necessity and importance of this research is that it provides the possibility of more correct and better recognition of religious Facebook pages. 

1. Research objectives:

Social network users are increasing dramatically and people, especially young people, spend a lot of time on these networks. Among the most popular social networks that have many users in the whole world, including our country, is Facebook.