This paper analyzes socializing on the Internet and attitudes towards the Internet as a medium of social interaction among university students in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). It stems from a larger research project conducted at seven different institutions of higher education in the Abu Dhabi Emirate between 2007-2009 through anonymous questionnaires. A total of 571 students (353 female, 183 male) participated in the survey. In this paper we present only a small portion of the data and focus on (1) the intensity and frequency of Internet use; (2) identity and gender hiding in the virtual environment; (3) meeting internet acquaintances in real life; and (4) attitudes towards the Internet as a medium for social interaction. Responses were cross-analyzed in light of the participants’ gender, age, and subjectively-perceived social status.

In the dissertation Identities and Lifestyle on Islamic Satellite TV, PhD fellow at the University of Copenhagen Ehab Galal investigates the ways in which these mainly Islamic satellite TV channels construct religious identity. Galal, who is affiliated with the Department of Cross-Cultural and Regional Studies at the Faculty of Humanities, has thus analysed a large number of different TV shows in order to assess the influence that the satellite TV channels exercise on the Muslim world.