With the growing popularity of social interaction platforms worldwide, the consumers living in the Arabian world can’t stay away from its effects. Apart from social media platforms, there has been a visible rise in the popularity of dating apps that help people find their love online. Similarly, the users in countries like Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Qatar are also increasingly using Arab dating apps. The purpose of social media networking is to provide a platform for people so they can connect and talk. The different feature of modern social media networking is the fact that information is regulated and handled by consumers inside the framework of social media platforms. This is what makes the usage of social media more important in the Arabian world. Understanding the way of users connecting with social media sites will aid in creating methods to promote consumer engagement. It helps a developer to understand the behavior, needs and interaction methods of the consumer so then they can the exact need for social media platforms.
Saudi Arabia is a powerful and growing nation. Arabian people are gaining knowledge and developing rapidly in the field of information and communication technology. Saudi Arabi is one of the top 10 most presenting countries since the last decade on the development index of ITU’S ICT. And the Commission of Communications & Information Technology in KSA discovered that the internet usage was accelerated in 2014 from 13 percent to 64 percent. This amazing increase in the usage of internet facilities and broadband connections by the population of Saudi Arabia came due to the extra association of social media applications. This growth was more fueled in the events of 2011, Arab Spring, by demonstrating how much social media networks help the people of Sadia Arabia to self-organize.
Role of social media in Saudi Arabia
Throughout the quickly changing Saudi culture, social media also played a significant role. Saudi Arabia is the leader of social media as one of Snapchat and YouTube’s largest regional markets. The worldwide increase in social media is 13 percent per year, and Saudi Arabia is leading the race with an annual growth rate of 32 percent amongst other nations.
The long-standing model for the determined, progressive growth of Saudi Arabia has been set up by Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman for Vision 2030. The research on a variety of giant projects planned to provide places of creativity, exploration and productive dedication for the generation, contributed to commercial, social and cultural diversification. The program seeks to also bring women into the workforce and to introduce a range of far-reaching reforms that have influenced the Saudi community portrayed on social media platforms.
Social media and Saudi Arabia
Let’s see which of the social media continues to be the most favorite and most used by the online consumers of Saudi Arabia. Over the last, from the total population of Saudi Arabia that is 33.85 million, 89.39 percent which means 30.26 million people became active internet users. From which 67.95 percent that is 23 million people were active social media users. From which, 47.27 percent which is 16 million people were the unique mobile users. 8.70 million were active mobile social.
Here are the social media platforms and their usage by the population of Saudi Arabia.
YOUTUBE:
The use of YouTube has been increased over the past years in Saudi Arabia. Its usage has been accelerated to 73 percent, which more than 24 million people of Saudi Arabia have been shifted to YouTube for streaming videos. Not just video, people are becoming social media influencers, which means they need a platform like YouTube to blog or post their content.
FACEBOOK:
Let’s not forget about the King of the social media platforms. Facebook has a total of 15 million active monthly users as the most popular social networking site in Saudi Arabia. But for the last year, the use of Facebook has increased 62 percent, which means almost 21 million people became part of this socializing app. Facebook has been used for sharing, posting and tagging posts and pictures. People of Saudi Arabia have been actively using Facebook for communicating and socializing purposes.
INSTAGRAM:
None can resist a good selfie; they are supposed to be posted with a good caption and a trending hashtag. The use of Instagram can never go down. As the youth of this generation can’t live without posting a good picture or without going life or without making a boomerang. Instagram is classified as Saudi Arabia’s second-biggest social media platform, with 13 million active users monthly. And why wouldn’t the followers will increase, with every update, Instagram provides us a with a new feature to get addicted to.
The use of Instagram has increased to 60 percent, which means more than 20 million people have become active Instagram users. Instagram has been a great platform not just for posting pictures but for earning money online. People are earning a lot of money through Instagram by being bloggers and influencers.
PINTEREST:
Need a caption for your new picture? Pinterest it. Need ideas for hairstyles? Pinterest it. Need new dress ideas? Pinterest it. For over the last couple of years Pinterest has been making its place on the hearts of Saudi Arabia people. Pinterest is a social bookmarking photographic website that helps people to gather and establish photos, articles & other types of content in particular areas of interest. It seems like a scrapbook online. You can gather pictures by putting them inside the online boards of Pinterest. You can also share the pictures by repining them into other boards.
Saudi Arabia users of social media find Pinterest a unique app that provides an endless quota of pictures. The usage of Pinterest has been increased to 18 percent which means over 6 million people are active users of Pinterest.
LINKEDIN:
LinkedIn would get the prize if you rate social media networks according to how formal are they. LinkedIn is a professional network in social media platforms, in which users create accounts that reflect current and previous work experiences. You can upload curriculums, join with colleagues and classmates. You can also create a network for your career.
People got aware of this amazing social media site, especially those who were career-oriented. This resulted in the increased use of 24 percent which are more than 8 million people of Saudi Arabia.
LinkedIn is different from Twitter and Facebook. For example, Twitter has insufficient profile depth and while Facebook has many users belonging to different demographic groups. This limits the search functions. In LinkedIn, you can make a deep formal and professional profile. Education, your experience, your company, your profile headlines are some factors that standardize user information.
Popular Social Media Messenger Apps
KSA has been emerging as a social media active nation. Here some more of the social media platform used by the people of Saudi Arabia for communicating.
72 percent of users have been increased by WhatsApp. More than 24 million people of the entire population of KSA has been using WhatsApp.
Snapchat is another messaging app used by the social media consumers of Saudi Arabia. Its usage percent has increased to 43% which is more than 14 million people.
Facebook has its messenger that is widely used around the globe as well as in KSA. The use of Facebook messenger has increased to 39 percent which is around 13 million people of KSA.
Skype was always a treat for video calling. The increased use of Skype is no surprise for us. People of Saudi Arabia increased their usage to 27 percent. It means 9 million people have been Skype in KSA.
Wrapping Up
With the development of social media platforms around the world, KSA has been also managing to be in the race. You just got an idea about all the socializing platforms for the users of Saudi Arabia.
