Insights
Industry
Dubai-based data intelligence provider and social media listening platform, Crowd Analyzer releases the fourth edition of its State of Social Media report. The report targets brands and industry professionals that are eager to have meaningful engagement with audiences on social media. The annual report covers the countries of Egypt, Saudi Arabia (KSA), the UAE, and Kuwait, offering insights on key social media platforms in these markets, including their popularity, breakdown of platform users in 2020 as well as their habits and interests. Here are the highlights –
Social Media Insights Per Country
UAE
- UAE is known for its high number of expats in the country; this is reflected in the number of English users on various social media platforms.
- The usage of platforms such as Twitter, Snapchat, and LinkedIn is continuing to grow in the UAE.
- The most popular social media platform in the UAE is Facebook, with eight million users.
- The most viewed page by Facebook users in the UAE is the TV news channel, Sky News Arabia.
- English language users outnumber Arabic language users on the platform.
- In terms of gender, female users still exceed male users on Instagram.
- Millennials are the ones most likely to be using Instagram.
- There has been a 30% increase in active Twitter users from 2019 to 2020.
- Millennials in the UAE are the most responsive generation on Twitter.
- Similar to Facebook, the top Twitter pages include news channels such as Sky News Arabia, AlArabiya, and AlHadath.
Snapchat
- In the UAE, Snapchat has an almost equal split between female and male users.
- The number of millennials on the platform exceeds other generations.
- The top interests for users on Snapchat are TV, sports, and travel.
- The most popular jobs on LinkedIn in the UAE are Business Development, Operations, and Sales.
Saudi Arabia
- Saudi Arabia is considered one of the most active regions when it comes to Twitter, Snapchat, and Instagram.
- Saudis are among the highest users on Snapchat.
- Social media has a unique appeal to it in society. It is a platform for news, entertainment, and information.
- Facebook is more popular among English users, which is an uncommon scenario in Saudi Arabia. The report cites that it could be linked to the large number of expats in the country.
- Generation Z males use Facebook more than Generation Z females.
- In both Saudi males and females, Facebook is more prominent among the millennials.
Instagram
- Instagram witnessed a decrease in the number of overall active users in Saudi Arabia by 8%.
- Arabic remains to be the dominant language on the platform.
- The top interests of Instagram users are fashion and gaming.
- Saudi Arabia has one of the highest user base for Twitter in the region, with an increase in user count from 11M to 14M during 2019-2020.
- The number of female users on Twitter is relatively high in comparison to other social media platforms.
Snapchat
- Snapchat is the leading platform in Saudi Arabia with approximately 15M active users.
- Apple users tend to use Snapchat more than Android users for both male and female.
- Saudi users use Arabic as their main language and the most trending topics are usually on Travel, sports, and TV .
- From 2019, there has been an increase in overall active users on the platform.
- Like most countries in the Middle East, Engineering, Sales, and Operations are among the highest job functions for users on LinkedIn.
Egypt
- In Egypt, social media is so widespread; it’s considered the main source of information and entertainment.
- For businesses to navigate their growth, it’s key to understand social media users across Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Snapchat.
- Facebook is the most popular platform with the majority of users being male.
- Generation Z and Y are the ones most likely to be using Facebook.
- Fashion, sports, and music are the top interests for Egyptian users in 2020.
- Instagram is the second most popular platform among Egyptians.
- The majority of users are between the age of 13 and 25.
- In Egypt, the number of active users is now almost twice as much as 2018 with an increased presence in females.
- The popularity of Twitter is growing in the country and plays an important role in media and culture.
- According to the report, tweets revolve mostly around TV, music, and fashion.
Snapchat
- From 2018, Snapchat audience decreased in number.
- The most popular interests are TV and news. Users treat the platform as a playful way to keep up with the news.
- LinkedIn witnessed an increase in the number of male users in 2020, whilst there is a decrease in the number
of females. - The top three job functions present on the network is Engineering, Entrepreneurship, and Operations.
Kuwait
- The majority of the population in Kuwait uses the internet and social media.
- Just like other countries in the MENA region, social media plays an integral role in today’s world in Kuwait as well.
- More than half of Kuwait’s population is on Facebook. The number of active users on Facebook is 2.7 million, while their general population is 4 million.
- It is also worth noting that English users exceed Arabic users by more than a million.
- Instagram is a popular platform in Kuwait. The majority of users are males between the ages of 26 and 40.
- Generation X and baby boomers are the least likely to use this platform.
- The number of English and Arabic users are split equally.
- In Kuwait, Instagram for Business is gaining popularity. So it is used for personal photos as well as marketing purposes.
- On Twitter, users in Kuwait mostly use Arabic.
- On Twitter, active users are usually in the age group of 26-40.
Snapchat
- Snapchat is the least popular social media platform in the country.
- Apple users tend to use Snapchat more than Android users.
- It is used mostly for TV, Travel, and Sports.
- The most popular fields on LinkedIn are Research, Marketing, and Media and Communication.
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