Youth is increasingly learning in non-conventional contexts, such as social networks or video platforms, courses, and tutorials. This research aims to diagnose the role of participatory culture, digital resources, social networks, and, specifically, YouTube, in learning processes and the acquisition of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) skills, specifically in mathematics, also analyzing the role of youtubers and, in contrast, teachers, both learning leaders in the formation of these skills. In order to accomplish this, mixed methods (quantitative and qualitative) were used, based on a survey applied to 4845 Italian adolescents, as well as a content analysis of the videos and YouTube channel of the Italian educational influencer Elia Bombardelli, one of the most followed and best rated in this country. Also, an in-depth interview has been applied to 12 Italian secondary school teachers. Among the main findings, it is highlighted that all adolescents value YouTube videos as a key resource to improve their school performance, rating youtubers better than teachers. However, it is remarkable that in the processes of learning and acquisition of STEM competencies, they prefer to interact with teachers rather than with youtubers.

Social networks are particularly significant in marketing and advertising because they provide platforms that offer interactive network channels to develop consumer brands. Among the most useful platforms of this type for capturing leads for businesses of the business to customer are Facebook®. In this sense, this research aims to analyze the degree of influence and relationship between Branded Content and the social media consumer interactions of the luxury fashion firm Manolo Blahnik in the mentioned network. This analysis allows us to see what type of content is more effective in social networks. To do this, an exploratory study was implemented with a review of the literature, followed by a correlation study, with hypothesis set to be contrasted through ANOVA analysis with SPSS software. The conclusion is that social networks facilitate interaction between brands and their followers, allowing the content and messages disseminated to achieve greater impact and commitment to the public and, therefore, increase the engagement between the brand and followers.

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