The report by Northwestern University in Qatar, in partnership with Doha Film Institute, said video-centric Snapchat is now among the most popular platforms in the high-bandwidth Gulf countries.

The use of Instagram across the region increased by 24 percent between 2013 and 2016, while Facebook’s popularity declined in the last three years by 6 percent.

Twitter, however, showed the biggest decline over the past three years — 17 percentage points — with a 12 percent drop from just one year ago.

The study said 89 percent of Saudi internet users cited concerns about privacy have changed the way they use social media.

It also revealed that the region is divided on whose responsibility it is to block objectionable content.

More nationals in Egypt, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia believe it is the responsibility of governments to block objectionable content, while majorities in the UAE, Lebanon, and Tunisia believe it is the responsibility of the individual to avoid such content.

The most evenly divided country is Saudi Arabia, where 50 percent believe responsibility lies with the government and 43 percent believe it lies with the individual.

While internet penetration levels are up across the region, internet and smartphone penetration are significantly higher in the GCC than the other countries included in the survey.

The UAE has the highest rates of internet penetration with 100 percent of nationals saying they are connected to the internet in 2016. Closely following are Qatar and Saudi Arabia, both at 93 percent internet penetration.

The study also shed new light on the shift from TV to online video. Daily TV viewing dropped in Saudi Arabia by 16 percent and Qatar by (21 percent, but television remains the platform of choice in the Middle East for watching films with 90 percent saying they watch films on TV.

It also showed that most in the region now watch film and video online, with fewer than 5 percent paying money to do so in the past year.

The comprehensive annual survey examined the use of and attitudes toward media among more than 6,000 adults in Egypt, Lebanon, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Tunisia and the United Arab Emirates.

It included several categories of inquiry including cultural attitudes, censorship, regulation and online surveillance, online and social media, film, TV, music, games, sports, news, and children’s media.

Everette E Dennis, dean and CEO of NU-Q, said: “This survey provides significant insight into the ways in which media and entertainment is consumed across the Middle East, revealing cultural and political attitudes of the Arab world. As the concept of media continues to change in this ever-connected digital world, our survey provides insight into how people are connecting and interacting today.”

Fatma Al Remaihi, CEO of Doha Film Institute, added: “The Pan-Arab media industry is growing faster than the economy, at about 19 percent per year with both online and offline channels experiencing rapid expansion.

“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.”

The study also showed that  more people are getting their news online than in print. Daily newspaper readership is greatest in the UAE (25 percent) and Qatar (32 percent) while Qatar also leads for reading news online daily (42 percent), along with Saudi Arabia (39 percent).

Source: http://www.arabianbusiness.com/privacy-fears-stunt-middle-east-use-of-social-media-630661.html

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