Social media usage continues to increase in the region

Dubai: The use of social media continues to grow rapidly and influence cultural and societal changes in the Arab world, with Arabic as the fastest growing language on different social media platforms in the region, the fourth Arab Social Media Report (ASMR) has revealed.

Latest figures from the fourth ASMR showed that by the end of June this year, Facebook users in the Arab world had reached 45.4 million, marking an annual increase of 50 per cent and tripling since June 2010. Twitter has reportedly registered over two million active users. Included in the study for the first time was professional social media site, LinkedIn, with four million Arab users as of last month.

Dubai School of Government’s (DSG) Governance and Innovation Program produced the report to analyse demographic breakdowns and usage trends of social media across the Arab region. It also aims to explore the changing behaviour of Arab social media users towards civic empowerment and societal engagement.

“Social media platforms such as Twitter, Facebook and YouTube continue to serve as primary avenues for over 12 per cent of the Arab population for raising awareness, disseminating information and mobilising community,” said Fadi Salem, Director of Governance and Innovation Program, DSG, and co-author of the report.

Arab social media users’ connection with, understanding of, and contribution to their societies and fellow citizens has been enhanced through the use of social media according to the report.

“Most respondents thought that their ‘national’ identity and a sense of being a ‘global citizen’ were reinforced by social media. On an even more personal level, many among those surveyed claim that social media and its ability to expose people to a variety of ideas and opinions, has helped them become more open and tolerant towards different views,” Racha Mourtada, Research Associate with the Governance and Innovation Program and lead author of the report, said.

The report noted that Arab uprisings continue to dominate discussions on Twitter. Active Arab Twitter users generated over 172 million tweets with ‘Bahrain’ and ‘Syria’ hashtags in Arabic and English in March 2012. One in four of Arab Facebook users come from Egypt. The other quarter are in the GCC countries with Saudi Arabia and the UAE making up 80 per cent of users in the Gulf region.

To view the full report, visit www.arabsocialmediareport.com