Social Media consumption by Arab Youth
Social Media consumption by Arab Youth

Which Platforms Made it to the Top of the List?

Among Arab Youth, those aged 18–24 years old, 9 out of 10 young Arabs use at least one social media channel every day, although the popularity of individual networks varies across the region, findings from the 11th annual Arab Youth Survey demonstrated.

Daily use of major social networks, by sub-region. Via: Arab Youth survey 2019

A love of video

“Millennials in the MENA region spend over three hours per day on online video, surpassing time spent on messaging apps and games,” details StepFeed, citing research published by Think With Google MENA.

Millennials in MENA are “twice as likely as their global counterparts to post content online, and show others how to do things online,” Google finds.

“In KSA and the UAE, 68% consume more video digitally than they do on TV.”

Meanwhile, in Egypt, 77% of millennials watch YouTube every day. “That’s more than any other platform, even TV.”

Photo by YTCount on Unsplash

Snapchat

Snapchat reaches over 90% of all 13–34-year olds in Saudi Arabia, Rami Saad, head of international content partnerships at Snap, says. This cohort also spends twice as much time on Snapchat’s Discover feature as their global peers.

Data from GlobalWebIndex found that 55% of 16–24 year-olds in Saudi Arabia use Snapchat every day, compared to 4 in 10 among all age groups.

In UAE, 33% of people between 18 and 34 use Snapchat daily, Jeremi Gorman, Snap’s global chief business officer, has revealed.

Regional data from August 2018. Via Snap.

Changing news habits

Social media has grown dramatically as a source for news among Arab Youth in the past five years.

Interestingly, the Arab Youth survey shows that all news sources had seen an increase in engagement in the past half-decade. None, however, had witnessed the same growth as social.

Around a third (35%) of young Arabs — those aged 18–24 — say they update themselves daily on news and current affairs.

Changing news habits for Arab Youth, via the Arab Youth Survey (2019).

“Social media is now more popular among Arab youth than traditional media,” observes Iain Akerman, a Dubai based Journalist, Writer & Editor, in a commentary published as part of the 2019 Arab Youth Survey.
['Damian Radcliffe']
['Middle East', 'Arab World', 'Snapchat', 'Online Video', 'YouTube']