سعیدرضا عاملی

This paper focuses on the role of influencers as an element of modern governance. As the fields of media, entertainment industry, and politics become increasingly interconnected, the phenomenon of influencer potentially affects many aspects of political life, such as campaigning and voting, policymaking, and international affairs. Using the network analysis method and applying a triple typification of influencers consists of media influencers, influencer politicians in power, and influencer opposition politicians out of power, and selecting 245 nodes on Instagram accounts, the article focuses on how do influencers interact within communication networks? Based on the triple typification, the article tries to find the pattern of networked political communications between influencers in the social network. The results prove that all three types of influencers are more interested in intra-group communication. However, both influencer politicians in power and influencer opposition politicians out of power have relatively similar tendencies to associate with media influencers.

Militarization is perceived as the intentions of the military to intervene and overcome civilian procedures. The tendency for militarism generates from the military’s ambition to be dominant over procedures not commonly perceived as military. It is described as an effort “to make people accept and love war, and see it as ‘normal’” (Lutz, 2009a, in Bickford, 2015) and is usually associated with high military expenditures. On the other hand, the emergence of cyberspace has opened new capacities and paradigmatic frameworks for conceptualization of sociopolitical phenomena. The present article is concerned with the US use of Stuxnet against Iran’s nuclear facilities in 2010. While being a cyber-tool in the US hostile foreign policy against Iran, the attack is discussed in the related literature as an act of cyber-war. This article argues that besides marking a cyber-tool in the US foreign policy against Iran, the attack was part of a long term militarization process in the US cyber strategy. Relying on dual-spacization’s assumptions of physical-virtual reality and using theory-testing process-tracing as the research method, this article concludes that the militarization process whereby Stuxnet was used as an alternative to kinetic attack on Iran, dual-spacized the nature of war.

One of the main features of open-world games is the non-linear process, the existence of multiple ways to achieve goals, the noticeable presence of cultural elements, the impact of the game space on world-famous cities, and the significant use of artificial intelligence. This research after examining the concept of "open world" in digital games and the development of this design model by using of case study and participant observation, with a critical and skeptical look at the realization of the game world of "Grand Theft Auto V and online version", especially in the context of the existence of multiple paths, seeks to achieve the main goals. The results of this study indicate that the open world of the game "Grand Theft Auto" is limited and enclosed by the design of the structure, storylines, characters, scenarios, rewards, punishments, racial discrimination, and sexual preferences. Despite the definition of normal and common professions and jobs in the game environment, such as buying and selling automobiles, investing in the stock market, medicine, working in the transportation system, and store management, the main goals are only through the income from membership in mafia groups, extensive trade in materials. Drugs and organized robberies are attainable, and role-playing in the position of the police is also associated with many obstacles and challenges, limited powers, few initiatives, a high degree of difficulty, and little attraction.

Background: The emergence of amateur critics and vernacular reviewers as non-institutional cultural voices is one of the consequences of social media's development and widespread use.Aims: This study aims to better understand reviewers and their types by examining how they establish critical authority in comparison to institutional critics and their potential influence on cultural valuation.Methodology: This subject is explored through the rhetorical analysis of their linguistic strategies. The research draws theoretically on existing literature regarding cultural criticism and review in social media. Methodologically, it combines qualitative content analysis and rhetorical analysis, emphasizing identifying Aristotelian persuasive elements within the data, including ethos, pathos, and logos. The study sample consists of 350 Instagram posts gathered from 30 film review pages.Findings: The findings indicate that most reviewers adopt a consumer-oriented perspective, distancing themselves from institutional critics. They have also emphasized using Instagram's affordances, particularly its interactive and participatory features, to construct their cultural authority. Furthermore, they have employed rational and emotional appeals in alignment with presenting "summaries and supplementary movie information" and expressing "emotional appeal and affective experience of consumption". These strategies, along with the reviewers' focus on "addressing the audience's emotional needs", "personal growth and self-improvement", and "less dependence on institutional critics", reflect their disinterest in delving into deeper levels of critical evaluation and rhetorical directness in constructing their authority. In the final section of the article, the impact of reviewers on cultural valuation is further discussed, distinguishing three types: "film-style bloggers", "cinema influencers", and "critical reviewers".Conclusions: Based on the results, the first two types of reviewers demonstrate how Instagram’s platform-specific features primarily shape critical authority. While diverse reviewers enhance access to information, they often marginalize critical evaluation and cultural value in favor of consumerism and commercial competition. Only "Critical Reviewers" have successfully integrated critical evaluation with Instagram’s affordances through distinct rhetorical strategies, emphasizing the need to increase their numbers in the era of digital media.