AMMAN - The main usage of Internet in Jordan is to participate in social activities, according to a survey, which also indicated that playing online games and uploading photos to a photo sharing website are among the least popular web-based activities in the Kingdom.
Conducted by Bayt.com and YouGov, the survey revealed that 34 per cent of 698 Jordan-based respondents claim to connect with friends via e-mail every day, while 36 per cent said they connect with friends through social networking sites.
The study, which covered 8,981 respondents from Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Morocco, Oman, Pakistan, Qatar, KSA, Syria, Tunisia and the UAE, also indicated that watching video clips and listening to music are also popular daily online activities in Jordan.
"Social networking is very popular in Jordan. All over the world, the main use of Internet is for social purposes and with the increase in Internet penetration there will be more people using social networking," Jawad Abbasi, founder and general manager of the Arab Advisers Group, said on Monday.
"Using social networking is a basic thing nowadays and the majority of Internet users use such sites," he told The Jordan Times.
Facebook ranked first among popular social networking sites, followed by Twitter, Linked-In, Netlog and Hi5, according to the survey, which revealed that 71 per cent log onto the site on a daily basis, whereas only 16 per cent visit Twitter every day.
According to www.checkfacebook.com, there are currently 1.923 million Facebook users in Jordan, with only 9 per cent of respondents claiming not to have a Facebook profile.
The majority of Jordanians spend between 30 minutes to 3 hours a day on Facebook, with another 12 per cent claiming to be signed into their account most times of the day. Twitter, on the other hand, has 38 per cent of users who log in for less than 30 minutes a day, and 24 per cent who log in for between 30 minutes and three hours, the survey indicated.
The survey, e-mailed to The Jordan Times, also revealed that 45 per cent of Jordan respondents use the Internet to seek employment.
The number of those seeking jobs online is expected to continue to rise, according to Abbasi.
"The number of Internet users is growing. Companies nowadays put online ads and many request that CVs and job applications be submitted online and do not ask for faxes like in the past," he noted.
Internet penetration in the country stood at 42 per cent by the end of June, according to figures released by the Telecommunications Regulatory Commission.
When it comes to online access, Google Chrome is Jordan's browser of choice, opted for by 51 per cent of respondents; similarly, Google reigns as the search engine of choice, with 98 per cent preferring to use it over its peers, the survey indicated.
Gmail, however, is surpassed by both Yahoo! and Hotmail for e-mail usage; with Yahoo! leading with 76 per cent, followed by and Hotmail with 63 per cent.
© Jordan Times 2011
