Can Twitter Become A Trusted News Source in the Middle East?

IBC

The surging popularity of social media in the Middle East has encouraged Twitter to open an office in Dubai, joining Facebook, LinkedIn and Google/YouTube which already have an official presence there.http://www.ibcce.org/page.cfm/action=library/libID=14/libEntryID=325/listID=2

Twitter said that its new focus will be on increasing advertising sales in the region where it has about 6 million users. However, Twitter is also playing catch-up to other social media networks.

According to Northwestern University, in Qatar, Facebook and Facebook-owned WhatsApp are the dominant social media platforms in the region. Both sites used by more than three in four respondents to its 'Media Use in the Middle East 2015' survey. High use of these platforms is consistent regardless of gender or age. WhatsApp has become nearly ubiquitous in UAE, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar. WhatsApp is less common in Egypt and Tunisia, where Facebook is the dominant social media platform.

Arabic social-networking website AreebaAreeba also claims to be bigger than Twitter in the region, although its figures are disputed.

Twitter clearly views MENA as an important market. Last year, it experimented with the introduction of hashtags during Ramadan and Eid to encourage interaction. Shailesh Rao, Twitter’s Vice President of Asia Pacific, Latin America and Emerging Markets, has stated that conversations about TV in MENA grew by 200% during 2014.

Social media has become almost synonymous with the internet in MENA. Staying connected and constantly 'checking in' pervades Arab culture, as demonstrated by nearly eight in ten people (79%) using social media or direct messaging at least once a day, according to Northwestern University. Furthermore, nearly seven in ten (69%) use the internet daily with the express purpose of learning the latest news and events from friends and family, often checking in multiple times a day.

Use of social media has surpassed other activities on the internet; people use social media far more than they look for news (55% daily) or download or stream videos (40% daily). Moreover, direct messaging is the most likely tool used to connect with others when compared to email, among other activities online.

Social media is a common news source but TV remains valuable and popular.

A 2014 study of news consumption in UAE, Saudi Arabia and Egypt, by Associated Press and Deloitte, found that 59% discover most of their news via social media.

Nonetheless, the study underlined that TV remains the primary channel for breaking news. Nearly half of the study's sample accessed breaking news via TV; comfortably ahead of social networks and other online services, as well as more traditional media outlets such as radio.

There are also conflicting findings regarding local perspectives on the reliability of information on social media and direct messaging. Some 46% and 45%, respectively considered social media and direct messaging reliable, according to Northwestern University. By comparison, roughly two in three consider TV a reliable news source and just under half consider newspapers reliable. The extent to which social media channels are used for news and information is strongly correlated to age. Younger adults are much more likely to rely on social media as an important source of news and information (75% 18-24 year-olds vs. 40% 45 and older) and are more likely to consider it reliable (53% vs. 30%).

“Although TV is currently the most trusted source of news for this younger cohort, social media is quickly catching up,” suggests Damian Radcliffe, digital analyst, journalist and researcher.

A 2012 study into the Arab Digital Generation reveals that 24% believe media content is totally controlled by government. “It's not surprising that many people therefore turn to social media as a trusted source of news,” Radcliffe notes.

In Tunisia, more than half of audiences identified Facebook as a key news source in 2013, while in late 2014 a third of Qatari nationals reported they use WhatsApp to find out the latest news; ahead of Twitter and other channels.

“I would not be at all surprised if in 2015 social media overtook TV in the Arab Youth Survey’s news trust index,” predicts Radcliffe.

Balancing the need to reach audiences on social media with content on established broadcast models is of prime concern in MENA and is especially the case for news organisations. Preparing for the Future Today is a major theme at IBC2015 and IBC Content Everywhere MENA.