Growth Pattern of Social Media Usage in Arab Gulf States: An Analytical Study

Sulaiman Reyaee,Aquil Ahmed

doi:10.4236/sn.2015.42003

Abstract

The impact of SNSs is tremendous on every aspect of life and people irrespective of region, gender and age are using it to get connected with their families and friends around the globe. This study aims to highlight the highly used SNSs across the Arab Gulf States comprising Iraq, Kuwait, United Arab Emirates, Oman, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia. The database of Stat Counter (http://gs.statcounter.com) was selected for tracing the use and growth of SNSs in this region. The findings show that the three most used SNSs in the Arab Gulf region are: Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. It is observed that Facebook is the leading social networking site used in the region until now, but Twitter is fast gaining market. Twitter is becoming popular among users and giving a tough competition to Facebook in almost all countries of the region except Iraq. In 2013, it has moved to 1st position in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, replacing Facebook. However, in some countries like the UAE and Qatar, Facebook is still going strong. The paper concludes that the intensive use of social media among citizens’ of the Arab Gulf countries indicates that the internet has the potential to be a multivocal platform through which every segment of the society can have their voices heard. With limited availability of published literature in the field pertaining to the usage of social media by the people of the Arab Gulf countries, the paper aims to understand the practice, implication and importance of social media networks in this Muslim dominated region.

Highlights

The internet has revolutionized the economy and above all our society
The literature search in this study indicates that new social networking sites are constantly popping up while the existing ones changing
It has been observed that Facebook is the leading social networking site used in all the Arab Gulf countries until now, but Twitter is fast gaining market in this region

Summary

Introduction

The internet has revolutionized the economy and above all our society. It has become a natural, background partHow to cite this paper: Reyaee, S. and Ahmed, A. (2015) Growth Pattern of Social Media Usage in Arab Gulf States: An Analytical Study. The internet has revolutionized the economy and above all our society. It has become a natural, background part. How to cite this paper: Reyaee, S. and Ahmed, A. The evolutions of the social web and mobile technology have changed the way people use the internet. These two innovations coupled with powerful internet and networking technologies have created a global environment by drawing people of the world closer and closer together [2]. To remain in touch with their friends and family around the globe This extensive mesh of social interactions is termed as social networks, which gradually became a powerful tool for communication and managing social relations

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