Abstract:
This study seeks to identify the paramount importance of social networking sites
on the daily lives of young people. It also aims at monitoring the effects of the
use of social networks (Facebook in particular) on cultural identity by
recognizing the reality of the Arabic language and the Islamic religion through
cyberspace. More importantly, the research attempts to find solutions so as to
preserve the Arab and Islamic cultural identity in the era of globalization.
The study tries to answer the following general question: What is the effect of
using the social networking site “Facebook” on the cultural identity of the young
university learners? The main important findings are:
The empirical study showed that the majority of university students (57.30%)
employ a mixture of local and classical Arabic dialects, in addition to foreign
languages during their interaction on the site.
Interestingly, it was shown that the majority of respondents accept the use of
short forms while chatting, it also tends to compensate for Arabic letters bythe
use of numbers. Moreover, chatting in Arabic through the use of Latin letters
contributed to the emergence of a new language dictionary related to the new
generation of the youth.
The study showed that the rate of (44.07%) admitted the spread of a
phenomenon of congratulating people during feasts and which hinders family
ties and social relationships.
Interestingly enough, facebook encourages people to instil a set of religious
values such as ordering the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice,
humility, volunteer work, and to maintain the cleanliness of the
environment.
