The Doctoral program in Anthropology and Communication at the Rovira i Virgili University held the first defense of an online doctoral thesis. The work of the already doctor Hanan Ezzat addresses youth identities and the use of social networks in the Egyptian context and has been directed by Iolanda Tortajada

The doctoral work entitled “Social media influencers and the online identity of Egyptian youth”, held on July 6, adopts a qualitative perspective from a cultural studies approach, with an ethnographic view that has led the author to interview influencers and fans on various social networks. The results point to advances in the field on how young people see their role in these virtual environments.

The thesis is innovative for dealing with a booming topic, addressing both the production of messages and their reception, and for being set in an Arab context, in which cultural, moral and religious aspects are interrelated with the use of new technologies and youth representations. The thesis also addresses the issue of gender, the role of leadership, the values ​​of influencers and the relationships established between influencers and followers.

Gemma San Cornelio (Universitat Oberta de Catalunya), Cilia Willem (Universitat Rovira i Virgili) and David Dueñas Cid (Kozminsky University) participated in the thesis assessing committee. After three hours of exposition and debate on the work, the thesis was distinguished with an outstanding cum laude, the highest evaluation.