Neda Maleki Farab

In the contemporary world, which is popularly known as the age of communication and information, the role and importance of the media in societies require no elaboration. Social media is a new and influential media that has had a great impact on the lifestyle and communication methods of human society in recent years.

Social networks usually comprise individual or organizational groups that are connected for one or more purposes. They function within the context of a complex society and their increasing success and popularity are due to their role in depicting a convergent network of sociality. These networks make it possible to be in contact and communication with others, share photos, videos, and information, organize events, chat and play online games.

Social networks consist of spaces in the virtual world that have been created for communication between different people with different levels of access. Making collective and interpersonal communication possible, forming virtual communities, and allowing the exchange of information and opinions are among the most well-known functions of these spaces. (Ziai Parvar, 2010). Social networks provide room for self-expression and representation of new and self-made through virtual and symbolic interactions and identities and away from restrictions and prohibitions.

The dominance of virtual social networks in today’s societies, as well as the fact that this phenomenon is characterized by dynamism, has become the cause of attraction on the part of many people to these networks.

Due to their visual appeal and ability to create phantasm, some social networks like Instagram have been able to attract many women and girls as their main audience and include them in their media circle and have made it possible for them to choose and use it as a suitable tool for displaying their real or virtual identity.

Women using social networks are divided into different groups based on such characteristics as age, level of education, place of residence, etc., and in this article, we aim to examine and analyze the interactions on the part of university-educated women with social networks and their role in managing this new media.

Constituting half of human society and as the breeders of today’s and tomorrow’s generation, women can have and play a significant role in the development, progress, and advancement of their society. In other words, as the nurturers of today’s and tomorrow’s generation, women can have a tremendous impact on all-round and sustainable development, even though their presence and active participation in society have always been accompanied by many fluctuations and due to their small participation, not much growth has been observed in the qualitative dimension, and to the desired extent.

One such quantitative and qualitative participation is related to educational and scientific fields, in the sense that women can be university students or university faculty members. Universities and centers of higher education train efficient and expert human resources in various scientific, social, political, cultural, economic, and management fields, and as part of human resources women can have a significant share in laying down the foundation of society’s growth in these fields.

Now the question is, considering the quantitative and qualitative increase in the presence of women in universities and institutions of higher education on the one hand, and the media’s dominance over the management of public opinion, on the other hand, how could the efficient and elite human resources be benefited from in order to increase rationality and raise the level people’s media literacy. And what is the attitude of women academicians towards the use of social media and their presence in social networks?

To put it in other words, how would it be possible to establish an effective and efficient relationship among women academicians for the most proper way of transferring knowledge and insight to their audience and how would it be possible to decipher the issue of conflicting roles and media management by women academicians in the country?

Conflicting Roles:

Within this context, conflicting roles refer to performing different roles that require contradictory or conflicting behaviors.

In the contemporary era, the trend of women’s employment has taken an upward trend, and, in addition to taking on their traditional duties and responsibilities of homemaking and raising and upbringing their children, they also shoulder the responsibility of working outside their homes, and it often happens that the fulfillment of such conflicting roles causes mental disturbance and disorganization in them.

In other words, a woman’s role as a central member of the family and her role in social and economic activities can be the cause of conflict between these three roles.

Now, considering the conflict of roles, on the one hand, and the necessity of women’s presence in the field of media management, on the other hand, makes it necessary to facilitate the presence of elite and academic women in this field by relying on novel and efficient strategies.

Strategies:

Empowering elite women academicians in the field of media by holding training workshops and making them aware of the conditions in which they operate.

A part of the research activity of elite women academicians should be dedicated to the transfer of knowledge to the audience through social networks.