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Understanding Social Media in the Middle East
The biggest market trends and the continued importance of mobile
Market Growth — key points
More than seven out of ten Arabs use Facebook and WhatsApp, the latest data from Northwestern University in Qatar (NU-Q) revealed. Their findings — based on internet users in six nations, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Qatar, Saudi Arabia (KSA), Tunisia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) — showed that usage of these networks far outstripped other social channels.
However, this aggregate figure masks a wide range of differences.
“Facebook penetration varies widely across the region — from nine in 10 Egyptian internet users to just one-third of Qatari users,” the authors note. Similarly, “Twitter penetration varies widely — ranging from six in 10 Saudis to only 4% of Tunisians.”
Facebook, and the Facebook family of apps are not the only players in town. Around one-in-five adults in Lebanon (19%) and Tunisia (18%) use the messaging app Viber, the Pew Research Center found. Their research revealed that Viber was more popular than Twitter and Snapchat in those…
