The present study aimed to investigate the impact of virtual social networks on the formation and shaping of a health-oriented lifestyle, with social capital and cultural capital serving as mediating variables among students at the University of Kashan. The study population comprised all students at the University of Kashan (6,571 individuals), and the sample size was estimated at 460 using Sample Power software. Data were collected using a researcher-made questionnaire. The instrument was validated through content validity, based on expert opinions, and construct validity. Its reliability was confirmed by calculating Cronbach’s alpha coefficients for the variables of virtual social networks (0.71), health-oriented lifestyle (0.72), social capital (0.70), and cultural capital (0.73). Descriptive results indicated that recreational and scientific-educational content accounted for higher average levels of use in virtual spaces than other types of content. Regression findings revealed that the mediating variables of cultural capital and social capital had the greatest explanatory power for variations in health-oriented lifestyle, respectively. Furthermore, the results of structural equation modeling (AMOS), which confirmed the majority of goodness-of-fit indices, suggested that the use of domestic virtual social networks was associated with an increase in students’ social capital and a more health-oriented lifestyle, whereas the use of foreign virtual social networks was associated with a decline in social capital. In addition, the use of these social networks was associated with a surge in cultural capital, which, in turn, was linked to a more health-oriented lifestyle. However, the relationship between the use of domestic virtual social networks and cultural capital was not statistically significant. Overall, the findings suggest that virtual social networks extend beyond their function as communication tools to serve as platforms for shaping and reproducing cultural and social capital, thereby influencing students’ health-related lifestyle patterns.