| المستخلص: |
Communication is one of the oldest social activities of man on earth, as man's many needs and different motives can only be satisfied and achieved by his communication and interaction with others. Communication occupies a pivotal position in the lives of societies and individuals in various fields of life, especially with the emergence of the Internet, which allowed all societies to come together, get acquainted, and exchange ideas. Today, social media is the newest form of media, represented by social networks, such as Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and other programs and applications, with their interactive features and various media. Social networks play a role in shaping public opinion, by promoting the ideas espoused by elites in societies to become valuable and spread among individuals and then influence their behavior and shape their attitudes towards certain topics. The Sultanate of Oman is one of the Arab countries that is classified as a young society because the youth group represents the largest proportion of the demographic population, distributed over the various governorates of the Sultanate. Through this research, light has been shed on the subject of social networks by tracing their origin, concept, importance, types, features, and motives for their use as well as their pros and cons, the most popular and most widespread communication networks, and a general review of social networks in the Sultanate of Oman. Through the comprehensive detailed study included in this research, and after analyzing the questionnaire forms for this study, the researcher concluded that three social networks are most prevalent among university students, and they are Instagram, followed by Snapchat, and the third network was Twitter. The smartphone tops the list of favorite devices for browsing social networks by university students and secondly came the laptop computer, while the fixed computer came at the bottom of the list. And that the three most prominent personal data provided by university students on social networks are the real name, then the date of birth, and thirdly the level of education. And that communication with the government was the first area of use of social networks by university students and secondly came the use of gaining new friends, and thirdly, the expression of opinions freely. And that Twitter is the most prominent network of social networks influencing local public opinion, followed by “WhatsApp” and then “Instagram”.
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