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Don't ignore the web
A myriad of online Gulf communities exchange views directly with each other which helps them to build the national consciousness that the country is seeking.
- By Francis Matthew, Editor at Large
- Published: 00:31 April 24, 2008
- Image Credit: Illustration: Nino Jose Heredia/Gulf News
Around the world it is obvious how technology has transformed the way that people keep in touch, but it is not yet obvious in the Gulf how instant access to communication and media will influence the development of society.
But as the UAE moves to reinforce its national identity, it is already clear that the internet and people's immediate access to communication is an integral part of how Emiratis operate.
The biggest impact is that individuals with particular interests and ideas are able to come together quickly and communicate effectively as a group, often without meeting in the flesh.
This might be a group of people campaigning for wider use of Arabic, and when a participant sees an example of bad language in a publication or on a shop front, he or she would be able to activate the group to lobby for a change.
Or it could be one of the UAE's environmental groups, and when they see a need for public action on a particular issue like reducing the use of plastic bags, they can mobilise support across the country very quickly, who seek action from authorities or the shops issuing out the bags.
Huge difference
Instant access to information makes a huge difference to how information is treated. People are very quickly aware of what they want to know: be it from a hand-held phone offering all the functionality of a computer, or from home or work computers, or even an SMS on a standard mobile phone.
This means that people's response to an event can be very quick, and in some cases will be able to influence the outcome of the event.
For example, if an art show is planned to run for a period of weeks, and some of the pieces of art offend or please someone, that person can use his or her web friends to seek to have the pieces removed or the show closed, or to get more people to go and make the show a success.
Around the world, a lot of concern has been expressed about people using the internet for extreme political and social purposes. This applies in the Gulf as it does anywhere else, and it is important that as in any country, a communication tool like the internet should not be used for illegal and terrorist purposes.
But criminal and terrorist groups are outside the normal social equation, and they are well left to the police and security services who are looking for them.
The internet is an integral part of the developing civil society in the Gulf. No club or group can operate without its website and mailing list. Many of the organisations which exist to encourage traditional UAE activities, use the internet as a way of keeping in touch with its members or sympathisers.
There is no clash between the traditional content and the new means of communication. Indeed, it is the opposite since the internet might be vital for the keepers of the tradition to reach their younger compatriots.
It allows people to share experiences and reinforce their shared ideas, even if they not campaigning for change and are happy with a situation. Such interest groups with specific shared interests are reinforcing social links, and vital for building the self-confident UAE national consciousness that the country is seeking.
For example, an internet community with an interest in the Gulf's regional style of nabati poetry would be able to share ideas, compositions, and comment on others' work. Other groups might share music downloads and swap files of their favourite singers, or simply chat and find people with whom they want to be friends.
In addition to working within the UAE, the internet is international. This allows people in the various countries of the Gulf to be in touch, which they would not be able to do otherwise. Kuwaitis and Saudis can talk to Emiratis and Omanis about their shared interests in music, or whatever else they please.
Conversations
Their conversations may be casual but, for example, when a twenty-something from Kuwait lands in Dubai for a weekend, or moves from Fujairah to Abu Dhabi for a new job, he or she will immediately find a network of people with whom they have been in very close touch, and they have an immediate social start.
Such UAE and Gulf on-line communities will keep in touch. They are modern individuals who are ready to use the latest technology as part of their normal lives. The long conversations over many days and weeks with their fellow users of the chat sites are building a new and deep awareness of their internet friends.
All this activity is building a new generation which is well informed about what their peers are thinking, directly from the individuals concerned.
This contact is happening without the intervention of any magazine editor, TV show moderator, or any other mediator from the traditional media. This transparency means that they cannot be bluffed into thinking that the majority thinks something other than their experience shows is not true.
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