Networked Youth, Situated Identities: Generation Z and Cultural Continuity in Tinghir

This article examines how Generation Z in Tinghir, Morocco, navigates identity formation within an increasingly globalized and digitized environment. As the first generation to grow up with widespread access to the internet and mobile technologies, Tinghiri youth engage with digital spaces in ways that reshape their social practices, cultural affiliations, and sense of self. Drawing on ethnographic insights and interdisciplinary theoretical frameworks, including psychosocial development, social identity, narrative identity, acculturation, and cultural resilience, this study explores the tensions and negotiations between global digital influences and local Amazigh cultural practices. This article shows that Gen Zers in Tinghir are not passive recipients of either global influences or institutional narratives, but active agents in the ongoing negotiation of their cultural identity.