Cultural and Identity Pathology of the Internet

Objective Today, the internet is a significant problem in the world, particularly for the developing countries including the Islamic nations. It is essentially important to know about the consequences of the internet along with considering suitable strategies to correctly use it and prevent or reduce its negative consequences. Modern communication technologies have weakened national cultural power and, in contrast, consolidated the power and penetration of the western culture in different areas of family life. The internet may cause cultural changes in two ways First, it offers its own culture, and second, it provides a passage for other cultures. It also helps the formation of individual identity through providing the means and methods that replace the existing deprivations in a society. The present research has been conducted to study the pathology of the internet in the fields of identity and culture. Methodology It used a descriptive analytical method. Findings The context of the real world differs from that of the virtual world. An individuals experience and cultural memory in the real world are different from those in the virtual world, particularly due to its novelty. Thus, various behavioral feedbacks are formed in both perceptional and emotional aspects. It may be claimed that the emergence of modern technologies and media and their consequent changes may have deep effects on the young. Despite all capacities, opportunities and potentials of this modern technology, the emerged problems and damages cannot be neglected. Conclusion Other than cultural effects on societies, the internet has the ability to bring about cultural changes. Making decisions regarding the application of this new technology requires the identification of cultural needs, definition of some new relations and processes along with inclusion of modern tools in a context that has well sensed changes from within due to enough cognition.