São Paulo – Social media usage during the pandemic in the Middle East and Africa was the subject of a survey developed by researchers Damian Radcliffe and Hadil Abuhmaid, in partnership with the New Media Academy in Dubai. A report on the survey was published last March, featuring remarks by Radcliffe.
“How the Middle East Used Social Media in 2020” shows that 57% of respondents reported spending more time on social media due to the pandemic, and 71% of Middle East respondents said they were spending more time on WhatsApp and other messaging apps. Additionally, 75% of respondents said their usage of social media like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok had also increased.
The survey showed that users across the region spend over three and a half hours a day on social media, with an average of 8.4 social media accounts per person. In the UAE, that average is 10.5 profiles, making it the country with the highest number of accounts per person in the world.
Veteran x new media
Even though newer media relying on the latest technologies prevail in the higher-income Gulf, older media such as Facebook and Twitter are still relevant, particularly in North Africa. Countries like Morocco, Algeria and Egypt are among the ten markets where Facebook is growing the fastest. Saudi Arabia and Egypt are some of the top-20 markets for Twitter.
Egypt, the most populous country in the region, is the 9th biggest market for Facebook in the world. Libya, the UAE and Qatar top the list of countries where Mark Zuckerberg’s platform has the broadest reach relative to population.
Shopping and news
As for long-term trends, the report points out that social media has changed the behavior of shoppers and media itself. More than 79% of Arabs aged 18 to 24 said they get their news on social media.
Reliance on social media for shopping research is also picking up. Shoppers in Morocco (60%), Egypt (60%), Saudi Arabia (59%), and the UAE (49%) are more prone to researching brands via social media than the global average. The survey’s authors found that this trend was prompted by the pandemic and should continue going forward.
Visual content
The visual content made available by apps such as Snapchat is also in demand: Saudi Arabia, Iraq and Egypt are in the top 15 for this platform. TikTok influencers saw their Gulf follower numbers go up 65% on average from February to August 2020, with user engagement being highest in Bahrain, Oman, and Saudi Arabia. In Egypt, 70% of internet users watch YouTube videos on a daily basis.
Online information
During the pandemic, countries across the region have tapped into social media to spread information regarding Covid-19. The survey shows that in Sudan, organizations including the United Nations (UNB) and the World Health Organization (WHO) have put out WhatsApp warnings on the pandemic, in Arabic and English, to provide citizens with data. Similar measures were put in place in Palestine, Iraq, and Lebanon. The full survey is available in English and Arabic from the New Media Academy website.
Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
