The rise and fall of online platforms

It has been noticed that social media platforms like Twitter and Facebook are losing ground not only in the Kingdom but also in the whole region, and now we have the findings of a survey backed with statistics to prove this claim.

In a study by Northwestern University in Qatar and Doha Film Institute, it was found that “Facebook’s popularity has declined in the last three years by six percentage points, while Twitter has seen the biggest decline over the period, with usage down 17 percentage points,” as reported by the Gulf Business.

The study was conducted across many countries in the region including Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Lebanon, Egypt, Tunisia and the United Arab Emirates with 6,058 respondents taking place in the survey to reach that conclusion. 

The study looked into several categories like cultural attitudes, censorship, regulation and online surveillance, online and social media, film, TV, music, games, sports, news and children’s media. Although an expected decline, the reason behind it was a bit unexpected. I would have guessed that the increased number of trolls roaming the timeline in Twitter and jumping in each and every hashtag was the main reason Twitter is losing its ground in the local and Arab market, but the main reason the study brought to our attention was “growing privacy concerns.” 

More than 89 percent of Saudis who took part in the survey said that they were having many privacy concerns to the point that they decided to change the way they were using social media and engaging with its different platforms (I wonder if trolling is one of those privacy concerns!). 

The report about the study was not clear on the nature of the privacy concerns it cited, although it mentioned fears about corporate surveillance of their online activity (42 percent) than government surveillance (31percent).

There are many other findings the study has included in its analysis of the feedbacks it collected. For instance, and as expected, the video-centric platform, Snapchat, is now among the most popular platforms in the Gulf countries, while WhatsApp, the well-known instant messaging application, is also gaining popularity.

Moreover, more people are consuming their news online in comparison to print. 

“Daily newspaper readership is greatest in the UAE (25 percent) and Qatar (32 percent). Qatar also leads for reading news online daily (42 percent), along with Saudi Arabia (39 percent).”

When it comes to censorship, nationals of Egypt, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia believe that it is the responsibility of governments to block questionable content, while most of those in the UAE, Lebanon, and Tunisia believe it is the responsibility of the individual to control his or her online consumption. The conclusion put by the CEO of Doha Film Institute Fatma Al-Remaihi says it all. 

“The findings also highlight the tremendous potential for growth of new media channels, as Middle Eastern governments move their economies away from dependence on natural resources to developing knowledge-based economies, and media in particular is a priority sector.”