Measuring the Impact of Middle Eastern Social Media
Differences between Iran and Egypt
While the geographical proximity of Iran and Egypt suggest similarities online, there are quite a few differences in the way media is viewed by the nations.
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When it comes to political protests...
In Iran, social media is a tool through which the government asserts its authoritarian reign. Facebook and Twitter are controlled, monitored, and policed. People who disobey the law of the land are punished in person for their actions of defiance. The "Twitter Uprising" was a terrible failure due to the movement's inability to attract working-class citizens to join the fight. Working-class citizens were too concerned about their safety and not as concerned with their political freedom.
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Meanwhile, the Facebook Revolution was successful in driving away the 30-year rule of President Hosni Mubarak. The Egyptians were more organized through their use of Facebook rather than Twitter. It is often said that Facebook is better for organizing such protests, and it helped the Egyptian people in this instance.
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In terms of media…
Egypt is actually an outlier in its heavy use of Faceook as a major media platform. Many Middle Eastern countries such as Lebanon, Qatar, and Tunisia use WhatsApp more than any other social media format, including Facebook. WhatsApp, a messaging app, doesn’t even crack the top 15 most popular social media outlets in America. In the United States, Facebook and YouTube far outpace the rest of the field.
Instagram is quickly gaining traction in the Middle East as well, rising from 6% usage to 28% usage between 2014 and 2016.
Research also shows that people in Egypt who are shyer about sharing their political views online are less likely to use social media at all. For many people in Middle Eastern nations, social media serves as a window outside of the bubble in which they live. It makes sense that people who are not under political unrest would see less of a need to use social media.
Indeed, social media is seen as an important avenue for information among the younger generation. Around 84% of people ages 18-24 see the internet as being a vital source of news, while only 73% of people in that demographic say the same about TV. The younger generations of the Middle East trust sources not monitored by the government, which makes sense.
