Digital youth in Qatar

Negotiating culture and national identity through social media networks

Bibliographic Data

ID12913469
AuthorsNoureddine Miladi (0000-0001-6191-8825, Qatar University, corresponding author), Moez Ben Messaoud (0000-0002-0356-6312, Qatar University), Ghena Alkhateeb (0000-0002-4871-2758, Doha Institute for Graduate Studies), Abeer Ashour (0000-0002-9760-8586, Qatar University), Hamda Al-Mohannadi (Qatar University), Abdullah Fetais (0000-0002-8543-2616, Qatar University), Anwar Alorfe (Qatar University), Fatima Alabidi (Qatar University)
Year2022
Volume15
Issue2
Pages151-177
Publication date2022-10-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of Arab & Muslim Media Research (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1751-9411 • E-ISSN: 1751-942X
PublisherIntellect (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1386/jammr_00045_1
OpenAlexW4308883224
LanguageEN
Citations received12
References cited11

The expanding digital media environment in Qatar is arguably affecting the construction of young people’s identities and the various expressions of who they are. The multiplicity of online digital spaces allows the youth nowadays to easily commute between multiple platforms and consume a multitude of media content in a manner not possible at any point before them. Through the implementation of ten focus group discussions among a sample of Qatari youths between 19 and 35 years of age, as well as 27 semi-structured in-depth interviews with social media activists, media experts, academics and policymakers in Qatar, this article attempts to analyse the complex media consumption environment that the Qatari youth engage with as well as the impact of that consumption on the formation of their identity. It looks at the extent to which their choices of various media genres on social media platforms allow them to negotiate and develop their own hybridized cultural identity. This study also considers how the Qatari youth capitalize on online spaces to reconstruct and represent their own personas and consolidate their thoughts and perceptions about the world around them. The findings show great affinity to social media networks. Online spaces such as YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat and WhatsApp appear as key sources of news, information gathering, communication and entertainment. The study also reveals a significant impact of the content of social media networks along with opinion leaders like role models and influencers in prompting the consumption behaviour, opinion-making and personal choices in terms of fashion and style among the Qatari youth

Advertising · Business · Consumption (sociology · Digital media · Entertainment · Focus group · Influencer marketing · Media consumption · Media studies · Multitude · Negotiation · Opinion leadership · Persona · Political science · Public relations · Social media · Social science · Sociology · Computer Science · Digital Marketing and Social Media · Impact of Technology on Adolescents · Social Media and Politics · Marketing

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