Dubai Arabic is the eighth most used language on Twitter, and this rank is expected to climb higher since the recent launch of the micro-blogging platform's Arabic interface.
Barely weeks into the launch that offers full Arabic functionality, users in the UAE have seen a surge in the number of Arabic tweets.
According to Semiocast, the French company that provides data intelligence and research on social media, Arabic grew fastest compared to other languages. In a study released a few months ago, it stated that the growth of Spanish and Dutch looked feeble compared to Arabic.
Emirati Ahmad Bin Yousuf Al Hasani, owner of an IT company in Abu Dhabi, has witnessed an increase in the number of followers for his Twitter account.
He told Gulf News, "I now get an average of three to five followers every day. Going by my interaction, the level of participation has increased by 30-40 per cent with many older Arabs, who previously shied away due to the language barrier, signing up."
Emirati Abdullah Al Yasi, an account manager in a Dubai-based transportation company, said that the number of tweets have increased exponentially. "There are more Arab speakers now. More people are following influential authorities like the Rulers. The Arabic interface will certainly encourage more and more people to contribute to the Arab voice," he told Gulf News.
For web developers like Emirati Ali Bin Yahya in the UAE, the change has both cultural and business implications. Speaking to Gulf News he said that traditional texts and poems were often diluted in meaning when translated in English.
"Tweeting the same in Arabic retains the true meaning. Also searching for trending topics or hashtags is easier because of the standard Arabic interface. Further, the opportunities for e-marketing are now huge with a far bigger audience." Social media instructor Khalid Al Ahmad, who is credited with creating ‘The 100 Most Influential Arabs on Twitter' list, said there is a huge need for Arabic content as it has been poorly used in the past.
In an email interview, Jordan-based Ahmad told Gulf News, "Arab user-generated tweets are more credible. Brands along with governments should realise this and build relations with them. Though Arabic represents a small percentage of twitter languages, it is the fastest growing."
