Saudis Are Nuts... About Social Media !

Twitter has over 3.7 million active Arab users, with more than half of them from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, according to the fifth Arab Social Media Report by the Dubai School of Government (DSG) published in July 2013. The report focuses on the impact of social media on education and life-long learning in the region. Analyzing demographics, the report reveals that the United Arab Emirates continues to score the highest among all Arab countries in terms of Facebook penetration at 41%, while Egypt at 25% of Arab Facebook users and Saudi Arabia with over 50% of active Arab Twitter users. Facebook registered an increase of 10 million users between June 2012 and May 2013. The number of active Twitter users in the Arab world has also grown exponentially from just over two million to 3.7 million in the past year. In March 2013, Arab Twitter users generated 336 million tweets -- almost double the number of tweets generated in March 2012. The report additionally stated that the number of LinkedIn users in select Arab countries is close to five million. For the first time, the report also analyzed the Twitter activity of selected official government accounts. In line with the rapid growth of Arabic on social media, the findings also reveal that Arabic is the preferred language for Twitter conversations among government entities and their respective Twitter followers in the Arab region.

The rise in use of social media networks coincides with explosive growth in smartphone use across the region. In the UAE, there were 173.7 mobile phone subscriptions per 100 residents at the end of March, compared with 11.9 broadband subscriptions per 100 inhabitants and a 13% increase in mobile use from the same month a year earlier, according to the UAE Telecommunications Regulatory Authority. The surge in social media usage especially amongst the Arabs could be a boon for Arabic content. Arabic web content still remains at only 2% of the world's content and consumption products are still largely originating from outside the region. This represents a fantastic opportunity for businesses to stand out. Creating compelling, relevant and engaging content in Arabic should be a key part of any marketing strategy in the Middle East. Ali Sajid is the founder and managing director at Xcel Media, an integrated advertising agency based in Dubai Media City. With over 12 years of Middle East experience in advertising, PR, digital and social media marketing, Ali Sajid has assisted some of the leading companies across the region in varied industries.