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11 Rev. Eur. Stud. 1 (2019)

handle is hein.journals/rveurost11 and id is 1 raw text is: Review of European Studies; Vol. 11, No. 1; 2019 ISSN 1918-7173 E-ISSN 1918-7181 Published by Canadian Center of Science and Education Social Media and Its Impact on Arab Youth Identity Maha Ali Alshoaibi Correspondence: Maha Ali Alshoaibi, Communication Department, Faculty of Communication, King Abdulaziz University, 21589 P.O. Box 80200 Jeddah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Received: November 7, 2018 Accepted: December 6, 2018 Online Published: December 26, 2018 doi: 10.5539/res.vl nip 1 URL: https://doi.org/10.5539/res.vl1nlp l Abstract Through the analysis of influences from social networking sites surrounding the revolts of the Arab Spring, this paper seeks to evaluate about how the identity of Middle Eastern youth has been shaped by social media, and what future impact it could have on Middle Eastern social and political spheres. This paper relies on two key theories of the development of identity and self-perception - Social Cognitive Theory by Albert Bandura (1986) and Social Comparison theory by Festinger (1954). The paper shall try to make some unique contribution towards understanding the role that social media plays in transforming Arab youth identity, and its socio-political impact. Keywords: social media, Arab youth, Arab spring, identity, social cognition, social comparison 1. Background and Objectives of Study The use of social media amongst the youth has become a global phenomenon. With the people of the Middle-east operating as one of the most rapid adopters of social media and social networking sites, the functions and subsequent analysis these sites play hold critical influence in both social developments and political revolutions. It has been noted by scholars that the youth of the region played the most significant role in the Arab Spring revolutions (Anderson, 2011). It is evident that social media usage has been most swiftly and widely adopted by the same segment of the Arab society (Mourtada & Salem, 2012). Existing literature surrounding the influence of social media throughout the Middle-east has been limited to the role it played in enabling coordination of protests and disseminating news to the international community. This paper seeks to evaluate the influence that these sites may have had on the revolts that have been a part of the Arab Spring. In addition, the question of social media's role and significance in the revolution naturally arises; this paper will seek to analyze what impact it could have on the Middle-eastern social and political spheres in the future. However, how the identity of the youth, the major adopters of the Social Networking Services (SNS), has been shaped by such media is an area that this paper would focus on more. The influence of social media on 'youth identity' in the Middle-east is a fairly unexplored topic. Middle-eastern youth are different, almost unique, in their cultural, religious and societal make up. Currently literature exists surrounding the broader impact of media on youth but is primarily focused around Western nations encompassing starkly different population dynamics. While youth in the Western countries have been born and raised in nations that are governed by democratic administrations, Arab youth has lived under monarchies and dictatorial regimes. The Western countries have more liberalized societies when compared to communities in the Arab region (DeLong-Bas, 2014). Concepts such as freedom of speech and gender equality are fairly new in the Middle-eastern region while have a long-standing tradition in the West. As such, the Arab youth should, ideally, have been acclimatized to non-democratic governments and conservative society (Fitouti, 2011). However, the Arab Spring revolutions brought to the forefront a radical shift in the preferences, expectations and demands of the Arab youth, which, in turn, reveals a shift in youth identity. It is noteworthy that the widespread adoption of social media occurred around the same period as the vociferous discontent towards governments shown by the Arab youth. As such, the question arises; did social media play a role in altering Arab youth identity, thereby having a greater influence on the Arab Spring revolutions than the mere medium of communication it has been portrayed to be by existing research? This paper seeks to offer insight into this inquiry through the combined analysis of social media impacts on Arab youth identity and its corresponding socio-political impacts. In order to evaluate the influence of social media on Arab youth identity, this paper relies on two key theories of the development of identity and self-perception. The Social Cognitive Theory by Albert Bandura (1986) and the Social Comparison theory by Festinger (1954) have been used extensively to analyze the impact of mass media and communications on consumers. Also, there are studies that specifically concentrate on the effects of social media on its users, employing each of the two theories under consideration. However, the unique aspect of Arab youth identity and its relationship to social media is yet to be investigated through the lens of these theories. Also included in this paper are 1

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