Negotiating Intimacy through social media: Challenges and opportunities for Muslim women in Iran. (original) (raw)
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Negotiating Intimacy through Social Media
Middle East Journal of Culture and Communication, 2016
In Iran, social media platforms have become powerful tools for political and interpersonal communication. They open new ways for their users, particularly women, to negotiate their intimate relationships with their family, (potential) partners or friends. Intimacy online is usually achieved through reciprocal visual and textual self-disclosure, which in turn may lead to face-to-face encounters. For Muslim Iranian women, social media allows room for self-expression, a way to combat loneliness and create meaningful relationships with like-minded people. However, at the same time, women are confronted by a number of risks associated with social media interaction in Iran, such as censorship, online (sexual) harassment, or cybercrime. Based on in-depth interviews and participant observation with Muslim Iranian women in Tehran, this paper explores the extent to which social media platforms (blogs, Facebook and dating sites) have created both challenges and opportunities for them by transf...
Digital romance: the sources of online love in the Muslim world
Social media creates new virtual public spaces where young women and men living in socially conservative non-Western societies can communicate in order to meet and engage in forbidden intimacies. In this essay, using survey data on thousands of Facebook users from Muslim-majority countries, we look at the relationship between romance in public physical spaces and cyberspaces. To what extent do Facebook users make use of the Internet to pursue romance? And what are the attributes of individuals who use it in this way?
Virtual identities of Muslim women: A case study of Iranian Facebook users
The virtual identity of women in the cyberspace surrounding Muslim countries is undergoing a process of differentiation from real-life identity. Although in some Arab countries women present themselves in online social networks as faceless users, in other Muslim countries, such as in Iran, they act differently. Despite the risk of possible real-life consequences, in some Muslim countries women are starting to feel free to decide how to present themselves on the Net, especially regarding the Islamic hijab. In addition, Muslim men and women are engaging in more open dialogue through their digital identities. Furthermore, social networks have given Muslim citizens a political voice, giving them the freedom to express what they object to in social or political terms. Within the context of Iranian society, this research project analyzes how the virtual and real behavior of female Muslim Facebook users varies and how the social networks are pushing them towards a kind of ‘Westernization’. The data has been collected through a content analysis of 550 public Facebook profiles of Iranian female users who live inside and outside this country.
Presenting Muslim gender on the internet; the study of presenting Iranian Muslim youth on Facebook
The relationship between a user's real identity and what is presented on the internet is an interesting and important field for researchers. Growing social networking websites, especially Facebook, are becoming increasingly popular thereby making this topic more important. Gender and religion are two crucial factors shaping identity in the real world and it is important to know how they affect the creation of new online identities, especially on Facebook. In this research, the profiles of 50 Facebook users were assessed regarding the profile picture, information that users had shared, and statuses (referring to a section in Facebook called, "What is on your mind?"). Of this sample, 30 Facebook users were interviewed in-depth to attempt to uncover both the thought process behind the development and representation of their identity, and (with regard to gender) what role religion plays in that representation. It seems Facebook users (male and female) are not overly concerned about religious or other social norms in their real life while representing themselves online.
From pen pals to chat rooms: the impact of social media on Middle Eastern Society
SpringerPlus, 2015
In this article, we will discuss what is known about a surprisingly popular phenomenon in the Middle East-the use of social media to communicate. We will begin with a discussion of what "social media" sites are (sites such as Facebook, Your Middle East, YouTube, Flickr, Muslima.com, chat rooms, and instant messaging) and point out how common they are in the Middle East. Next, we will discuss the reasons why men and women are currently using Internet and social media. Finally, we will discuss what impact social media have had on politics, political dissent, education, and men's and women's relationships-and the impact they might be expected to have in future years. Finally, we will focus on the impact of such media on men's and women's relationships-including cross-gender friendships, romantic relationships, and sexual relationships.
Journal of Middle East Media, 2020
Interaction with non-family members of the opposite sex is prohibited in public places in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA). Although communication is allowed between males and females within families, it is characterized by hierarchy and high-power distance, creating communication limitations. Since the same restrictions do not exist online, Saudi citizens can utilize online environments to overcome these face-to-face boundaries. This survey study takes a uses and gratifications perspective by examining how a sample of 221 male and female Saudi college students use social media for the gratification of (a) relationship development and maintenance needs with the opposite sex; (b) communication-interaction needs with the opposite sex both inside and outside the KSA. The findings indicate that Saudi students use social media to establish relationships and communication with the opposite sex that may not occur in face-to-face environments due to cultural prohibitions; however, the extent to which one chooses to engage with the opposite sex via social media differs according to sex and one’s current country of residence—inside the KSA versus outside the KSA—and the cultural-social norms within these environments.
Motivations, concerns, and strategies of Facebook users in Iran
There has been exponential growth in the number of Facebook users in Iran. While a few studies have investigated users' motivations for joining Facebook, limited attention has been paid to the issue of users' concerns and strategies while using Facebook. To promote a deep understanding of Facebook users in Iran, this study seeks to explore the main reasons that actuate Iranians to join Facebook, their concerns oriented from being a blocked website's user and their conservative strategies to prevent probable threats. We employed a qualitative method. 40 Facebook users completed semi-structured interviews. The findings show that needs for pleasure, social relationships, acquiring information, identification, monetary and idealistic goals, and improving matrimonial life are the most prominent motivations to join Facebook. As Facebook is a blocked website in Iran, users face political concerns, reputation concerns, family life concerns, and security concerns. These concerns lead users to utilize different strategies to reduce the risks. Findings show that for Iranians, Facebook lies in social space. Their experience of joining Facebook is surrounded by gender inequality, male dominance, bogus identities, moral considerations, and insecurity feelings. The anomie condition in Iran, as an outcome of the process of transformation from tradition to modernity, is an important factor that clarifies the battle between governance and citizens in Facebook. Findings of this study have implications for both citizens and government. Keywords: access, citizen, governance, social networking, security
Love in the Middle East: The contradictions of romance in the Facebook World Cambria Naslund
Romantic love is a social fact in the Muslim world. It is also a gender politics impinging on religious and patriarchal understandings of female modesty and agency. This paper analyzes the rise of love as a basis of mate selection in a number of Muslim-majority countries: Algeria, Egypt, Iran, Pakistan, Palestine, Tunisia, and Turkey where we have conducted Web-based anonymous surveys of Facebook users. Young people increasingly want love in their married lives, but they and the communities in which they live remain uncomfortable with the mating practices through which such love has traditionally been achieved in the Western world. The paper explores the religious contradictions and the gender politics of modern heterosexual love. Romantic love has become a social fact in the Muslim world. Young people increasingly want love in their married lives, but they and the communities in which they live remain uncomfortable with the mating practices through which such love has been achieved in the West. We want to explore these contradictions and the religious and gender politics of modern heterosexual love. In this article, we explore love and courtship in six Muslim-majority countries: Algeria, Iran, Pakistan, Palestine, Tunisia, and Turkey, where we have
Love in the Middle East: The contradictions of romance in the Facebook World
Critical Research on Religion, 2016
Romantic love is a social fact in the Muslim world. It is also a gender politics impinging on religious and patriarchal understandings of female modesty and agency. This paper analyzes the rise of love as a basis of mate selection in a number of Muslim-majority countries: Algeria, Egypt, Iran, Pakistan, Palestine, Tunisia, and Turkey where we have conducted Web-based anonymous surveys of Facebook users. Young people increasingly want love in their married lives, but they and the communities in which they live remain uncomfortable with the mating practices through which such love has traditionally been achieved in the Western world. The paper explores the religious contradictions and the gender politics of modern heterosexual love.
of Arab Women, Virtual Relationships, and Conservative Cultures
2016
There has been a growing number of studies in the IS literature that have investigated the role of culture in the success or failure of Information Systems. These studies show how culture can affect the use of Information Systems and how Information Systems adoption can influence culture. However, there is still lack of studies that investigate how Information and Communication Technologies can modify the national culture of a country. To address this gap, we use the IT-Culture Conflict theory (Leidner and Kayworth 2006) as a theoretical base to explore how Social Networking technology influences the culture of a developing country. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 27 Arab female participants from the Arabian Gulf region. This study has important implications for both research and practice.