Riyadh: About 38 per cent of Saudis using Facebook are women, according to a researcher working in the media field.
Fawzia Al Shadadi said there are 231,000 Saudis using the social networking website as of December 2009.
"More women are turning to social networking. There is a growing trend among Saudi young women to have a wide circle of friends to express their feelings without revealing their original name," she said. Fawzia made these remarks in a working paper on Issues of Saudi women on Facebook in a seminar entitled ‘Electronic media and issues of the younger generation' at King Saud University on Monday. The seminar was part of the cultural activities of the ongoing Saudi National Heritage and Culture Festival (Janadriya Festival). The theme of this year's festival is "One world and different cultures."
As many as 11 prominent researchers from the US, Germany, Italy and some Arab countries are presenting working papers at the seminar.
According to Fawzia, Saudi women are using Facebook for various purposes. Some of them use for shopping, others for exchanging legal, literary and civil rights matters while the rest of them simply for recreation and passing the time.
Trend
Dr Abdul Aziz Al Zahrani, member of the academic faculty of King Saud University, said that several social networking sites have become popular with the revolutionary changes being taken place in the information field. "Facebook drew as many as 132 million visitors worldwide during the year 2008," he said.
Dr Fahd Al Khareeji, head of the Media department at King Saud University, said the younger generation is more keen and interested in using social networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter, internet games as well as sites for exchange of video clippings.
