چکیده:
Development in social spheres is among the concerns of every advanced society, attracting the attention of many experts and researchers. In the information age, despite the fact that information and communication technologies have permeated various layers of societies and had significant impacts on them, unfortunately, few studies have addressed these impacts with a macro perspective. With this aim, the present research seeks to identify and explain the impact of the expansion and penetration of information and communication technologies on the social development of societies. The current article is part of a qualitative research study with a grounded theory approach, in which eighteen experts in the fields of public policy, information technology, and social sciences were selected through purposeful and snowball sampling and participated in the study. Research data was collected using semi-structured interviews, and Strauss and Corbin's constant comparative method was used to analyze the data. The findings of the research indicate that the expansion and penetration of information and communication technology in societies influence the process of social development by influencing public expectations and helping citizens acquire competence and facilitate change and transformation in the social system of societies, the details of each of which are explained in this writing.
خلاصه ماشینی:
(Jamtsho & Bullen, 2007; Sheridan & Pramling Samuelsson, 2003) Some other studies also emphasize the role of information and communication technologies in increasing the level of information and awareness of citizens and believe that advanced information and communication technologies, especially the internet, provide users with a vast amount of information in a short time and at a negligible cost, and also, by eliminating geographical distances, have brought the ability to connect people with different capabilities in different places, which ultimately leads to an increase in the general level of public information and, ultimately, to the promotion of their knowledge and awareness (; 2010, Perdana; 2008, Kamel; 1999, Hendriks; 2006, Frisch (Pirannejad, 2011; OECD, 2010 Furthermore, information and communication technologies, with the help of their advanced communication facilities, have led to increased communication between people at the societal level.
Also, the aforementioned technologies, through cyberspace (especially the internet) and the creation of social networks, have further increased the ground for increasing interactions between people (2011, Pirannejad; 2010, ITU), and it is interesting to note that, according to experts in social sciences, increasing the amount of communication and interaction between people plays a significant role in the mental health of society and also has positive effects on increasing the level of social awareness, which indicates the constructive effects of the expansion and penetration of information and communication technologies in increasing the level of information and awareness of citizens of societies, as one of the important factors of social development (, Valikangas & Merlyn; 1999, .
Several studies have also confirmed this finding of the present research and emphasized the effects of developing the use of information and communication technologies on increasing literacy and education levels, as indicators of increasing citizens' knowledge and awareness (Perdana, 2010; Kamel, 2008a; OECD, 2010).
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