University of Tehran on behalf of the "Cyberspace Research Policy Center" and the "UNESCO Chair on Cyberspace and Culture: Dual Spacization of the World" Journal of Cyberspace Studies 2588-5499 10 2 2026 07 01 Typology of the Instagram audiences and users in Iran 583 614 106129 10.22059/jcss.2026.408315.1214 EN Majid Soleimani Sasani Department of Communication, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran. Elham Akbari Department of Educational Tecnologhy, Faculty of Industrial and Systems Engineering, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran. Journal Article 2025 12 17 <strong>Background:</strong> With the advent of online social networks, some new form of life was developed in a virtual environment and the relationship among people became different from its traditional form.<br /><strong>Aims: </strong>The present study examines the status quo of the use of one of the most popular social networks in Iran, namely Instagram, and the typology of its users.<br /><strong>Methodology: </strong>The data was collected using a questionnaire and almost 1000 Instagram users answered the questions. In order to understand the use of Instagram and the typology of its users, the theoretical concepts of "uses and gratifications", "transition from audience orientation to user orientation", "online identity", "networked individualism" and "cyberloafing" were examined.<br /><strong>Findings: </strong>The daily use of social networks by users is an average of 139 min, of which approximately 104 min are dedicated to Instagram, and that there was a significant relationship between the use of Instagram and the age group, marital status, and social classes.<br /><strong>Conclusion:</strong> Instagram users comprise a spectrum from passive consumer actors to active producer actors. Different user types based on the use motives are: instrumental/commercial users (consumer or passive and productive or active), interactive users (social communicator and relationship builder), information seeking users (wide scope information seeking and local scope information seeking), disclosing users (aesthetic and lifestyle), loafing users (tourists and celebrities) and specialty-oriented users. https://jcss.ut.ac.ir/article_106129_d796458c2f16aa839c06a4ed1843c7bc.pdf