The use, and adoption, of social media continues to rapidly evolve. A new white paper from Damian Radcliffe and Amanda Lam at the University of Oregon provides an up-to-date analysis of how people across the Middle East are using social networks, highlighting the rise of messaging apps, visual social networks like Instagram and Snapchat and occasional regulatory and other tensions.

This is the sixth annual report on the state of social media in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) written by Damian Radcliffe, and the first co-written with Amanda Lam.

The paper distills key research findings, industry data and announcements from the past year, providing an essential overview of social media developments in the MENA region.

This 2017 research and industry round-up highlights the increasing prominence of visually led social media in the region, and the ongoing popularity of Facebook’s different products.

10 key findings identified from the past year: 

  • WhatsApp remains the most popular social media channel, based on usage, among Arab Nationals. Use of the apps group messaging function has grown substantially in recent years.[1]
  • Despite WhatsApp’s popularity, not all of its functionality is necessarily available to WhatsApp, Snapchat and FaceTime video calls have historically been blocked in UAE.[2] 
  • Since 2012, Facebook has grown its MENA user base by 264 percent.[3] However, in some Middle East countries, Facebook usage has dropped substantially (-20 percent) since 2013.[4] However, usage of the Facebook portfolio of products has grown.
  • A more data friendly version of Twitter, Twitter Lite was rolled out in 24 new countries, in November, including Algeria, Egypt, Israel and Tunisia.[5] The app is designed to make Twitter more accessible in developing regions where data plans are expensive.
  • There are 63 million Instagram users in the MENA region, equivalent to 10 percent of total global users. Usage has grown from 7 percent of MENA’s internet users in 2013 to 42 percent by 2017.[6]
  • YouTube is viewed daily by half of young Arabs, according to the Arab Youth Survey.[7] The fasting growing video segment is “short-form (few minutes long), amateur digital content – curated by Arab youth and distributed on video platforms.[8]
  • Saudi Arabia is YouTube’s biggest market (globally) in per capita consumption, and video is the most popular online activity for young people, with the average 15-24 in MENA spending 72 minutes a day watching videos online.[9]
  • Social networks are a popular means to keep up with the news in the Middle East, as elsewhere. Facebook is the most popular daily news source among young Arabs,[10] ahead of online news, TV, and Newspapers.[11]
  • In the UAE, around 43 percent of marketers spend up to $10,000 per social media influencer campaign, as this practice continues to grow.[12]
  • Huda Kattan, an Iraqi American makeup artists and Dubai-based business woman, is the world’s highest paid social influencer, according to the first ever Instagram Rich List. With 20.5 million followers, she charges $18,000 per post.[13]

Damian Radcliffe said:

“Six years after the Arab Spring there continues to be a strong global interest in how social media is used in the Middle East.

In 2017, the big trends have included the rapid growth of visually-led social networks like Instagram and Snapchat (with the percentage of users in the Middle East often far ahead of other regions), continued uptake of messaging apps and the preference for video content - and increasingly social networks as a source for news - among Arab Youth.

These developments have important strategic implications for brands, media organizations and Government organizations, who need to shape their communications strategies in line with these emerging consumer preferences.”

Radcliffe, the Carolyn S. Chambers Professor in Journalism at the University of Oregon’s School of Journalism and Communication; and an Honorary Research Fellow at Cardiff University’s School of Journalism, Media, and Culture Studies.

He has been writing about the Middle East since 2012 for the BBC, The Huffington Post, MediaShift, Qatar Today, Your Middle East, ZDNet and others. His work on the region has been quoted by a wide range of industry experts globally and across the Middle East.

Amanda Lam said:

“As someone new to exploring social media in the Middle East, I was amazed by how diverse and vibrant it is. Social media in the Middle East, as elsewhere, has evolved from simply a form of social networking to a valuable business strategy and even a political tool. It’s a fascinating area to study and read about.” 

Download the report on Scholars' Bank, the open access repository for the intellectual work of faculty, students, and staff at the University of Oregon. 

The White Paper can also be downloaded at  https://damianradcliffe.files.wordpress.com/2018/02/social-media-in-the-middle-east-2017-1.pdf

It’s also available to view, download and embed on Scribd, SlideShare and Academia.edu.

Authors: Damian Radcliffe and Amanda Lam

Damian Radcliffe is the Carolyn S. Chambers Professor in Journalism at the University of Oregon’s School of Journalism and Communication, a Fellow of the Tow Center for Digital Journalism at Columbia University, an Honorary Research Fellow at Cardiff University’s School of Journalism, Media, and Culture Studies, and a Fellow of the Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufacturers, and Commerce (RSA). He tweets @damianradcliffe.

An experienced Digital Analyst, Consultant, Journalist and Researcher he worked for Qatar’s Ministry of Information and Communications Technology (ictQATAR) from 2012 until 2014.

Now based in the USA, Damian continues to write and talk regularly about the Middle East. He has written a monthly column on technology in the Middle East for ZDNet since late 2013; and produced an annual round-up of social media development across the region since 2012.

Damian has also written for a range of other outlets about the Middle East, including: ASDA’A Burson-Marsteller, BBC Academy / BBC College of Journalism, The Conversation, Georgetown University, The Huffington Post, MediaShift, Northwestern University in Qatar, Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism at Oxford University, Your Middle East and others.

As a speaker on Middle East matters, he has participated as a trainer, keynote, panelist and conference chair, at events in Dubai, Doha, Istanbul, London and Springfield, Virginia.

Amanda Lam is a senior studying public relations and journalism at the University of Oregon;
graduating in spring 2018.

She is the Managing Engagement Director at the award-winning Daily Emerald newspaper and
the Assistant Firm Director for Allen Hall Public Relations. Follow her on
Twitter @amandaaalam.

For more information on this report, please contact

Damian Radcliffe: damianr@uoregon.edu / US Office: (01) 541-346-7643. 

[1] http://www.mideastmedia.org/survey/2017/

[2] http://gulfnews.com/business/sectors/telecoms/tra-says-it-has-no-problem-with-voip-1.1903705

[3] http://www.arabnews.com/node/1203576/media

[4]  http://www.mideastmedia.org/survey/2017/

[5] https://lite.twitter.com/content/lite-twitter/en.html

[6] http://www.arabianbusiness.com/ten-percent-of-instagram-users-in-mena-region-664176.html

[7] https://wamda-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/resource-url/665bf7c4c81c1dd.pdf

[8] http://www.dpc.ae/img/Arab-Media-Outlook16-18-Executive-Summary-Eng.pdf

[9] See reference 9.

[10] http://www.arabyouthsurvey.com/pdf/2017-AYS-White-Paper-EN.pdf

[11] http://www.arabyouthsurvey.com/pdf/2017-AYS-White-Paper-EN.pdf

[12]http://www.arabianbusiness.com/industries/technology/383606-revealed-how-much-marketers-spend-on-social-media-influencer-campaigns

[13] https://www.hopperhq.com/blog/instagram-rich-list-2017-platforms-highest-earners-revealed/

© Press Release 2018