Identifying and prioritizing the political functions of virtual space (social networks) in cognitive warfare

abstract
Cognitive warfare is the field of public opinion management by an institution, organization, actor, government or government that can influence the thoughts and perceptions of that society. In this war, especially the virtual space is used in order to change the way people think, and to change the thoughts, the structure of thoughts and minds, no tool works like the virtual space, as it affects the innermost and personal spaces and Individuals and communities have entered and can send their own message to change thoughts and influence these types of things. This space has various functions, including cultural, social and especially political functions, which are important and should be investigated.
The purpose of this research is to identify and prioritize the political functions of virtual space (social networks) in the field of cognitive warfare. This mixed research has been carried out in the field of cognitive warfare in terms of purpose, application and descriptive method. The method of collecting required data and information is library, documentary and field. Its statistical population is army and national experts in the fields of virtual space and cognitive warfare, who have been active in this regard, and 21 experts were selected as a sample using the snowball method. In this regard, the relevant questionnaires were distributed among the statistical population in the form of full numbers and using the fuzzy Delphi approach, 12 components were identified.
The results of the research show that the function of "social networks as the main tool and driver of riots and political revolutions", "a tool of civil resistance" and "the role of social networks in the occurrence of various revolutions in the world" as the most important political functions of virtual space in war. were cognitively identified and ranked.