Every Thursday, social4ce provides you with the latest news regarding social media in the Arab world. If you have any blog post, article, survey, infographic or video you want to share with us, you can tweet us @social4ce. In the meantime, enjoy this week’s news!
Continuous growth for active Twitter users in the Arab world: Khaled AlAhmad (@shusmo) published an infographic detailing active Twitter use in the Middle East and North Africa, based on data from an upcoming Dubai School of Government Arab Social Media Report. This infographic looks at Twitter use in the MENA region during the time period between September 2011 and March 2012 where there was 1 311 882 active Twitter users (people posting at least once within two weeks)
Facebook unveils ‘Insha’Allah’ button for Arab market: Following the opening of its office in Dubai, Facebook has revealed the first of what it claims will be many alterations to the social media site tailored to the local Arabic market. As of next week, users across the Middle East and North Africa will have to opportunity to respond with ‘Insha’Allah’ to an event invitation, along with the usual ‘Join’, ‘Maybe’ and ‘Decline according to The Pan-Arabia Enquirer.
The launch of local UAE domain for Youtube: During a media hangout last week, video giant YouTube announced the launch of the local UAE domain youtube.co.ae and revealed some staggering numbers about the Middle East North Africa MENA region as revealed on Jazarah. There are 167 Million video views a day in MENA, 90 Million video views in Saudi Arabia per day and over one hour of YouTube video is uploaded in MENA per minute.
A survey conducted by the Dubai Press Club reveals increasing popularity for social media as a source of news in the Arab world: During the survey conducted on the sidelines of the recent Arab Media Forum, 60 per cent of the 734 respondents said they get 30 per cent of the news from social media platforms. An additional 15 per cent obtain between 30 and 69 per cent of their news from social media. A whopping 55 per cent of those surveyed agreed that the quality of Arab journalism has evolved for the better over the last two years. Check the full results on The Dubai Press Club website.
Digital and Social Media Shape Region’s Rebirth a year after Arab spring: An article on AdAge shows how brands and marketers are adapting to social media a year after Arab Spring. The article states that the challenge for brands is to take advantage of people’s empowerment without looking like they are exploiting it for commercial gain since the Arab Spring put the spotlight on the Middle East and made the rest of the world take a fresh look at the region.
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