DIGITAL TRANSNATIONALISM: SOCIAL MEDIA AND THE SOCIAL BEHAVIORS OF AZERBAIJANIS IN EUROPE

The Role of Social Media in Building Global Solidarity: A Literature Review of Transnational Social Movements

The development of social media in today’s fast-paced and sophisticated era has created an important space for cross-border interaction. Such dynamics often give rise to the idea that digital platforms have an important impact in building global solidarity, especially transnational social movements. This study aims to analyze the role of social media as a flexible medium for cross-border struggles in solidarity. The research method used by the researcher is a literature review, primarily utilizing secondary data from various scientific-academic publications, NGO (Non-Government Organization) reports, and case analyses based on relevant documentation. This approach focuses on patterns in digital communication and online mobilization strategies, and their impact on social movement solidarity. The research assumption shows that social media not only accelerates the dissemination of information but also strengthens collective identity among interconnected global communities. However, there are several challenges, such as issue fragmentation, digital access inequality, and the risk of commodification, which can weaken the effectiveness of movements. In conclusion, social media plays a central role in building global solidarity and presents certain limitations that can be anticipated.

BEYOND VIRALITY: MEDIATING CULTURAL PRACTICES IN THE CONSTITUTION OF BELONGING, SOCIAL RECOGNITION, AND IDENTITY IN DIGITAL CULTURE

Digital culture has fostered contemporary forms of communication, interaction, and social participation that extend beyond virtual environments and have become an integral part of adolescents’ everyday experiences. Among these manifestations, the phenomenon known as Farmar Aura stands out as a practice widely disseminated through social media, in which certain behaviors, performances, and interactions are associated with recognition, prestige, and a sense of belonging among peers. This study aims to analyze the Farmar Aura phenomenon as a cultural practice that mediates adolescents’ sense of belonging, social recognition, and identity construction, drawing on the principles of Historical-Cultural Psychology, studies on digital culture, and contributions from the neurodiversity perspective. This is a qualitative, exploratory, and bibliographic study based on national and international scholarly literature addressing digital culture, mediation, identity, social recognition, and participation. The Farmar Aura phenomenon is examined as a contemporary cultural reference to reflect on processes of meaning-making and social interaction among adolescents, also considering adolescents with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), without limiting the discussion to this specific group. The findings indicate that emerging cultural practices within digital culture may constitute symbolic spaces of mediation, fostering experiences of belonging, visibility, and social recognition. It is concluded that contemporary cultural phenomena constitute relevant objects of investigation for Education and the Humanities, as they broaden the understanding of participation, social recognition, and identity construction processes in the digital society.

Negotiating Identity Through Language: A Sociolinguistic Study of Pakistani Youth Discourse on Social Media

This research investigates the strategies adopted by the users of Gen Z in Pakistan for creating digital identity through translanguaging, slang, using emojis, hashtags and app vernaculars on Instagram, TikTok and X (previously Twitter). The analysis of 250 public digital artefacts demonstrates that young people use a mix of Urdu, English, Roman Urdu and regional languages to enact belonging; to humour; to position themselves within class; to express gendered meanings; and to social critique. The study is based on the Translanguaging Theory and Multimodal Discourse Analysis and adopts a qualitative digital sociolinguistic approach with the aid of NVivo-assisted thematic coding. Results show that the young use flexible multilingual products to balance transnational digital culture and regional affiliation. Micro-analysis of the comments and digital texts reveals that the multimodal semiotic tools are functioning for negotiating the social situation and for enacting subtle resistance to the institutional norm. To sum up, the study proposes that the communication of social media has transformed the new forms of sociolinguistic practices in which the digital space becomes a place of interaction where meaning and identity is constantly being negotiated.

Algorithmic Domesticity: Moroccan Women YouTubers Between Cultural Respectability and Platform Capitalism

The Impact of Social Media on Identity Formation and Cultural Practices in Cameroon: A Qualitative Anthropological Study in Urban and Semi-Urban Cameroon

The rapid expansion of social media across sub-Saharan Africa has generated increasing scholarly interest in its implications for cultural identity, community belonging, and the transmission of cultural practices. This qualitative anthropological study examines how Facebook, WhatsApp, TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube influence identity formation and cultural practices among users in urban and semi-urban Cameroon. Data were collected between October and December 2025 through semi-structured interviews and ethnographic conversations with 40 participants of diverse ethnic, generational, educational, and professional backgrounds in Yaoundé and Maroua. Thematic analysis explored participants' motivations for social media use, barriers to digital access, processes of identity construction, cultural preservation initiatives, and experiences of acculturation. The findings reveal the dual role of social media in contemporary Cameroonian society. On the one hand, digital platforms strengthen cultural continuity by supporting diaspora networks, community-based WhatsApp groups, indigenous language learning, and the transmission of cultural knowledge. On the other hand, participants associated social media with increasing exposure to dominant global cultural models, processes of acculturation, the spread of cultural misinformation, and persistent inequalities in digital access, including high connectivity costs, unreliable electricity, and uneven network coverage. The study argues that the cultural consequences of social media are shaped not by technology alone but by broader historical, social, and institutional contexts. It concludes by recommending culturally responsive digital literacy programmes, greater investment in locally produced digital cultural content, and community-led initiatives that use digital platforms to strengthen Cameroon's diverse cultural heritage.

POST-SECULARITY IN THE AGE OF DIGITALIZATION: THE BUDDHIST TRADITIONAL SANGHA OF RUSSIA ON THE VKONTAKTE SOCIAL NETWORK

In the context of digitalization, religious organizations are not only adopting new channels of communication but also redefining the forms of their public presence, which makes the analysis of religion through the lens of post-secularity particularly relevant. Russian Buddhism is especially illustrative in this regard, as it combines traditional religious forms with active engagement in the contemporary media environment. The aim of the article is to examine the digital presence of the Buddhist Traditional Sangha of Russia in social media and to identify the ways in which religious, ethnocultural, and public functions are combined in its online communication. The objectives of the study include identifying the most engaging types of publications, revealing the stable semantic dominants of its digital discourse, and interpreting the findings from a post-secular perspective. The empirical material consists of publications from the official VKontakte community of the Buddhist Traditional Sangha of Russia over a ten-year period of its existence. The analysis is based on a combination of quantitative assessment of user engagement and content analysis of word frequency, which made it possible to correlate audience reactions with the internal structure of the community’s digital discourse. The study demonstrates that the digital communication of the Buddhist Traditional Sangha of Russia cannot be reduced to mere information dissemination. The strongest audience response is generated by posts situated at the intersection of religious, cultural, and public agendas. The frequency analysis shows that the community’s digital discourse is dominated by institutional-organizational and sacral-ritual layers, while personal-authoritative, ethnocultural, and socio-public registers also play a significant role. The article concludes that the digital presence of the Buddhist Traditional Sangha of Russia constitutes a form of post-secular public religion in which the sacred retains its significance while operating within a broader ethnocultural, regional, and public context.