Privacy concerns slow down ME social media consumption

Dubai: The Middle East’s savvy social media users may be cooling off on Twitter over privacy concerns, going by the results of a regional survey. Instead they are taking to direct messaging platforms such as SnapChat and WhatsApp, the study by Northwestern University in Qatar reveals.   

Twitter feeds have seen the “biggest decline over the past three years — 17 percentage points — with a 12 percentage point drop from just one year ago,” the survey adds.

“Three-quarters of Egyptian internet users say that concerns about privacy have changed the way they use social media, second only to the 89 per cent of Saudis who say the same.”

But use of Instagram has soared across the region - by 24 percentage points between 2013 and 2016, while Facebook’s popularity has dipped in the last three years by 6 percentage points, going by the survey’s numbers.

Other key pointers from the survey reveal that the UAE has the highest rates of internet penetration, with 100 per cent of nationals saying they are connected to the internet in 2016.

Qatar and Saudi Arabia follow, both at 93 percent internet penetration.