Understanding Social Origins in Educational Settings Through Social Media: A Sociological Analysis of the Formation of Cultural Identity in Digital Environments
Year: 2026
Type: conference-paper
Abstract: This study explores the relationship between social origin and digital representations and analyzes the extent to which these representations contribute to the development of cultural and educational identity within digital worlds. The research was conducted in three different social environments, namely Jordan, the United Arab Emirates, and Tunisia, with the aim of examining the impact of digital representations on social identity within diverse cultural contexts. The research used a comparative interpretive method to analyze social symbols and meanings within digital discourse. Data collection was conducted through semi-structured interviews with a purposively selected sample of 15 teachers, five from each country. The main themes discussed included digital identity and cultural context, social symbols, interactions with others, and educational aspects of digital communication. The results revealed significant differences between teachers’ interpretations of digital symbols, which is reflected in the nature of educational interactions within digital platforms. The results also supported that digital identity is constructed selectively to emphasize desirable social values, with most teachers avoiding the use of local dialects while communicating within digital platforms. The results also revealed that most teachers emphasized that it is important to know students’ social backgrounds to comprehend their behavior and improve the quality of educational interactions. Knowledge of social origins is a basic element in building a digital identity consciously, improving the quality of interactions within digital platforms such as social media, promoting understanding and coexistence within one country and between different cultures, and avoiding misunderstanding and misinterpretation.
Institution: Al Ain University
Language: English
Subfield: Linguistics and Language
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: hybrid
OpenAlex ID: W7170093585