Characteristics of Social Networks in the Theory and the Real World

The development of information and communication technology as one of the most prominent components of the expansion of social networks has revolutionized the quantity, quality, and speed of information flow unprecedentedly. One of the important consequences of the discourse of globalization of communication is the expansion of virtual participatory politics, the politicization of ethnic, racial and religious identities, the gradual undermining of the sovereignty of states, the increased authority of transnational centers, the expansion and intensification of sociopolitical awareness. The most important characteristic of these developments, which the thinkers refer to as the "Electronic Global Village, “can be identified in concepts such as the information revolution, the compaction of time and space, the end of geography, the spread of the world of consciousness, the cybernetic age, etc. One of the increasing undeniable consequences of modern communication and information technologies is their impact on the sociopolitical structure of societies, which has drawn the attention of various schools and socialist political thinkers due to its importance and sensitivity. In Iran, the contemporary sociologists have considered the study of the political function of virtual networks. This issue led to the attention paid to the characteristics of social networks, and thus, these characteristics are addressed in theory and in the real world. For this reason, this paper will attempt to initially introduce social networks and their impact on creating political and social changes. Then, the characteristics of these networks are discussed in theory and in the real world. The method of this study is descriptive-analytical, and the data collection was made by library method using physical and virtual resources.