Identity in the digital age is being transformed through the configuration of new identities in the virtual world. Online identity is defined by Veale (2017) as the representation of a person online, composed of a variety of attributes, characteristics, information and content that can be used to identify a person online. What is characteristic of this identity, as opposed to offline identity, is that it is constructed according to the logics of interaction that govern virtual sociability (Murillejo et al., 2015; Torres, 2016).

Although there is a broad academic consensus that supports the existence of a relationship between online and offline identity, the type and degree of relationship between the two is controversial. For some authors there is a total hybridisation between the two (Martinez, et al., 2021; Espluga, 2021) while others emphasise the differences and the distance between both. There is also a gap in the cultural differences that exist in the constitution of online identities between different groups of diverse socio-cultural backgrounds. Thus, the aim of the research is to find out how young Moroccan immigrants and Spanish immigrants describe their online identities, to identify the main differences between online and offline identities and to understand the socio-cultural factors that are identified in the construction of their online identities.

Among the results obtained, the following stand out:

1.  Young people report that they spend most of their time online on social networks tik tok, instagram and whatsapp. Their motivations for using them include communicating with other people they know and do not know, keeping up to date with what friends and celebrities are doing and "gossiping". They recognise that they are constantly monitoring and controlling other people's lives. 
2.  Among the positive aspects of their virtual socialisation, they express the ease of communication between distant people. However, they underline numerous negative effects: (1) exhibitionism of intimate life and female hypersexualisation in order to increase their virtual popularity, (2) frustration, decrease of self-esteem due to the underestimation of the perfect life and (3) the feeling of diminishing or wasting time.
3. They find difficult to define their online identities because they are not very stable. They recognise they want to show the good side of things, the positive, the perfect, the idyllic. In this sense, they applaud having a greater ability to decide what to show and what to hide about themselves than in the offline world. This idealisation of the virtual self is justified by the need to generate good opinion in others, favouring their social acceptance and admiration- "showing their best version"-. The aspects they value most in the construction of virtual identity are physical beauty, creativity and popularity or sociability. 
4. When comparing online and offline identities, they most claim to appear natural, while they identify falsehood, deception and imposture in the profiles and avatars of their peers.
5. Finally, it is recognised that socio-cultural factors affecting online identity vary according to young people's backgrounds. Although peers are fundamental in the construction of both young's identities (Davis,2014), different cultural patterns are recognised. Spaniards are more active in networks and give more importance to the number of followers. They also do not limit themselves as much when it comes to publishing certain content. On the other hand, Moroccans do not perceive that social networks waste their time; they give priority to enjoying time with family, friends and offline hobbies before being online. They also report giving less importance to appearance. They also reveal less personal and intimate information. In terms of the elaboration, they give more importance to religion and national identity (while spaniards give it to leisure).

1.Design: is a qualitative research using the semi-structured interview method. 2. Participants: The population selected for this research are boys and girls between the ages of 13 and 19, of Moroccan and Spanish origin, in southeastern Spain. Specifically, the persons investigated are: 6 Spaniards (two boys and four girls) and 6 adolescents of Moroccan origin (4 boys and two girls) currently residing in Spain. The Moroccans have mainly arrived in Spain through family reunification at a very early age, and therefore understand Spanish even better than their parents. 3.Procedure: These participants were chosen by purposive sampling according to the selection criteria: defined by age range and socio-demographic characteristics. For this purpose, an announcement was published on social networks in which the research being carried out and its subject matter were briefly explained. Once the informants had been selected, the individual interviews were carried out in person. All interviews were conducted with the prior consent of the families. The sessions were delivered over two months in 60-minute sessions. All interviews were transcribed and subsequently anonymised. 4. Data analysis: Content analysis of the open-ended interviews was carried out using Atlas.ti.9 software. 5. Ethical aspects: The project was submitted to the Bioethics Commission of the University of Almeria, with reference UALBIO2020/003. All ethical criteria contemplated in human social science studies were met.

As a result of the analysis of the interviews conducted, it is confirmed that social networks are a means of communication and identification for adolescents, regardless of their nationality. As a consequence, an online identity is created, which in turn influences the offline identity, observing that the two go hand in hand (Bolander, 2016). Virtual identity is described under different logics from offline identity, basically linked to the possibility of showing and hiding information, playing with anonymity or fictionalising and perfecting avatars. This aspect means that it is recognised as a place that can provide enormous quotas of pleasure, recognition and popularity, when virtual capital is maximised, while at the same time generating enormous frustrations, mental health problems and feelings of falseness in links. The construction of virtual identities is not exactly the same across different background groups, implying that there is offline-online permeability and internal virtual subcultures related to ethno-racial, socio-cultural and religious profiles. This study reflects differences identified between Spanish and Moroccan immigrants.  

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