Middle Eastern and North African Countries Overview Social media became a popular platform for political discussion

and suggestions for a democratic set up of government in the Middle East and North Africa at the time of Arab Spring uprisings in early 2011. About two years from then a report by Pew Research Global Attitudes Project (released December 2012) shows that popularity of networking sites still looms large and users across Lebanon, Tunisia, Egypt and Jordan utilize social media platforms to talk about politics at almost double the rate of their Western counterparts. Users from this part of the world also discuss religion and community issues more frequently than in other regions. As per the Pew Research report, 60% of social media enthusiasts in Egypt, Tunisia and Jordan post about religion. As against this, the ratio is barely 10% in Western Europe. Social media has been the tool that allowed for interactions across boundaries. Twitter, Facebook and YouTube are the better known micro blogging sites that are used for expression. In the Arab world however the nature of this new age media predominantly moved from a purely social context to a political nature. So while the tweets and updates on Facebook in most other countries seem to be stuffed with pictures of babies, weekend parties, sport events, and movie/music reviews, users in North Africa and Middle East use these sites to engage others on critical issues such as politics and social set up. Usage Trends The fact that users in Arab world tend to post about political and social changes is supported by a report published in July 2012 by Dubai School of Government. According to the report, 33% to 50% of social networkers in the Middle East agreed that the sites influenced changes in the community. Also, approximately 50% of users believed that social media had made them more liberal to opposing views. Political and community movements in the region empowered huge segments of the local population. The popularity and diversity of social media usage continued to grow beyond the peak of Arab Spring. Trends also reflect that the growth is more organic and now affects the Arab connections with their society and other communities across the globe. Penetration of Social Media Users in Select Arab Countries June 2012

The Arab Social Media Report has also revealed some interesting data about the popularity of three social networking sites. The total number of Facebook subscribers in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region stood at 45,194,452 (as of end June, 2012). This increased by roughly 50% since June 2011. The estimated number of active Twitter users in the Arab region at the end of June 2012 was 2,099,706. The total number of LinkedIn subscribers in the MENA stands at 4,294,484 (as of end June, 2012), up from 3,588,215 at the start of February.

Data for users from individual country shows that while Turkey leads the region with the highest number of Facebook and Twitter users but United Arab Emirates has the highest number of LinkedIn users in the Arab world. Where we once noticed a shift in the social media usage trends from social to political, there is a seemingly wider scope of use from civic engagement and political participation to business marketing and social change. With a substantial percentage of Arab users in many countries, governments in the region have also started to acknowledge and accept the power and scope of social media. Some government agencies in North Africa and Middle Eastern countries are also viewing this platform as an opportunity to contribute to development of more transparent, participatory and comprehensive models for governance. Internet Usage in the Middle East and North Africa Comparative Analysis

The penetration of Internet in general and social media platforms in particular in Middle East is less than what it is in other parts of the world. Relatively, with 8.5 million users (as in Feb 2013) Saudi Arabia tops the list on considering the absolute number of users with access to the World Wide Web. This is chased by Morocco (7.7 million); Egypt (5.2 million) and then UAE with 4.7 million users. When considered completely, the 11 countries that are a part of Middle East and North African region had 39.2 million Internet users. When we consider internet penetration rates, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) leads the area at 71%, trailed by Kuwait with 62%, Qatar with 61%, Saudi Arabia with 60% and then Lebanon with 52%. A survey conducted by Ipsos Media CT also revealed that the majority of people going on to the Internet in the Middle East and North African region were using a connection at their house. About 87% of the Internet users accessed it from their residential premises, as against 34% who logged into the Internet from office or work places. In some Middle Eastern countries social media marketers are also trying to develop web content in Arabic. With regards to this, Microsoft is also developing translation tools that would make the Arabic more easily available for Internet users. This initiative is a component of Qatars Supreme Council for Information and Communication Technologys initiative to build up more websites with Arabic content. Trends for Future Trends show that the number of Internet users will keep growing, particularly after the introduction of new technologies that beat poor ICT infrastructure that hampers access to Internet in this region. Broadband markets also show an upward trend in Algeria, Egypt, Morocco and Tunisia. Further, commercial 3G mobile service has been introduced in most of the MENA countries. Demographic factors are also expected to contribute to the growth of Internet population. As per the Arab Media Outlook 20082012, Digital media will thrive in the Arab market because the market has a large, technologically accomplished demographic groupits youthwho are comfortable with it and will customize it to their own requirements. The report also mentions that, over 50% of the population in Yemen, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Morocco and Egypt are estimated to be currently less than 25 years old, while in the rest of the countries the under25, net generation makes up around 35% to 47% of total population. Regulations for the Internet and Media ongoing debate Since the past few years, there has been a growing debate over censorship of online and offline media in the Middle East and North African region. Difference of opinion between censors and regional advocates of freedom of expression has increased over the years and collective voices continue to show concern over the regulations that curb freedom on media platforms. The advocates of freedom of speech disapprove of repressive regulations by the government while some governments assert that they detain bloggers and digital media activists since they

misuse what regimes refer to as freedom of media. In Egypt for instance, the authorities detained a blogger in summer of 2009 on the charge of "Exploitation of the democratic climate prevailing in the country to overthrow the regime." Arab Network for Human Rights Information, based in Cairo deplored the charges and described them as a black comedy. Another instance of a similar argument was reported in the GCC countries. The head of Doha Centre for Media Freedom expressed disapproval of Dubai Police supposedly asking Google to censor YouTube. The head of center was then criticized by government officials in Qatar and some journalists in other countries. He was also accused of endorsing pornography a very sensitive topic and a taboo in MENA communities. Though it is ordinary for online groups and activists in the area to have campaigns and criticize online censorship and arrests of bloggers and online authors, some other campaigns in support of social censorship have also appeared in the past few years. These usually support censorship of sexually explicit content on the Internet. For example, the Arabic website Ehjab has become quite popular especially amongst web forum users. The website facilitates the blocking of websites by forwarding user submitted URLs of in appropriate or questionable content to censors in a few of the Middle Eastern countries. Readers for Online News Internet users in the Middle East and North Africa are increasingly turning to websites for daily updates from around the world. As per a survey by Jordan based Arab Advisors Group, the number of users who choose online platforms for news pieces as per their own choice as against the editors selections is likely to grow. Online vs Offline Paltform for News
70% 60% Percentage 50% 40% 30% 20% 10% 0% Saudi Arabia UAE Egypt Jordan Online News Readers Offline News Readers

Countries

Among 3,348 people surveyed in Egypt, 50% read online newspapers as against 34% who read/watch news through other forms of media (print, TV, Radio). Between 555 people surveyed in Jordan, 50% read their news online while the other half read news offline. While the move

from offline to online readership has not been en masse in the GCC countries, as per this particular survey, the gap seems to be tapering. Among 355 people surveyed in Saudi Arabia, offline newspaper readership still exceeded online sources, 48% to 44% Acknowledging the fact that the future of media is online and this also helps in considerable cost savings, some print publications have switched to online formats. Al Majalla newspaper of KSA did away with its print edition to focus on digital newspaper format in 2009. Likewise, Super, a sports magazine in the UAE dropped its print edition to be an online publication. Further, The Gulf News became the first online news platform to offer videos in the Middle East region. The media industry in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region has also begun to attract international investors this was evident by Yahoos purchase of the well known Arab web portal Maktoob based in Jordan. Yahoo bought the portal for $164 million even though at the time of this sale, Maktoob had less than $1 million in cash and less than $2 million in contracted revenues. The long term impact of social media in the Middle East and North Africa The social media developments in the Middle East and North Africa are still in their nascent stage. Arab satellite channels had helped to revolutionize broadcast news and social media is seemingly changing the nature of news and community engagement. This engagement continues to evolve with more convergence of social media and satellite broadcasts as observed in Tunisia, Egypt, and other countries in the region. Though social media has been extensively used during Arab Spring uprisings, it cannot be expected on its own to bring about immediate political changes in the MENA region. Analysts are focusing on the long term effects, the development of new political & civil society engagement along with individual & institutional competencies. Networking through social media has changed the expectations of freedom of expression and association to the extent that individual and collective capacities to converse, organize and add on to technical knowledge are expected to result in even stronger voice, political influence and participation over the next one or two decades. Prior to the revolts in Tunisia and Egypt, an instance of the kind of spontaneous expression that Arabs shared with the world could be observed in the flood of tweets sent in celebration over Doha, Qatar being chosen to host the 2022 FIFA World Cup. It has long been obvious, and the revolts in Tunisia and Egypt further served to reinforce the reality that social media has changed the nature of free expression to give unprecedented voice to Arabs of all classes across continents. References: https://opennet.net/research/regions/mena http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/worldviews/wp/2012/12/19/how-the-middle-east-usessocial-media-in-four-charts/

http://www.yourmiddleeast.com/features/social-media-usage-in-the-middle-east_13333 http://www.theisraelproject.org/atf/cf/%7B9314a74c-c58d-43ae-83f8-73a434f7d1ea %7D/20110328_TIP_CONFERENCE_APRIL_5_SOCIAL_MEDIA%20(2).PDF http://www.arabsocialmediareport.com/home/index.aspx?&PriMenuID=1&mnu=Pri