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29 March 2024

More than a third of UAE residents use Facebook

The Arab World comprises 9.7 million Facebook subscribers. (AP)

Published
By Vigyan Arya

A recent survey published by Facebakers, a site that provides information on Facebook statistics and applications, revealed that 36 per cent of the UAE's population is registered on Facebook, making it the leader in the Middle East and North Africa (Mena) region, followed by Qatar with 29 per cent penetration. Surprisingly, leading the list globally is Iceland with 61 per cent, followed by Norway with 53 per cent and Canada with 47 per cent.

Out of the 1,600,000 users registered across the UAE, 63 per cent are male and 37 per cent females. In comparison, the US has a Facebook penetration of 40.76 per cent where female users comprise 56 per cent of registered users, compared to 44 per cent male. In addition, Facebook has also attracted various business and government organisations to open their communication portal, with dedicated pages.

"These statistics highlight a global movement towards social media as a means to disseminate information and communicate with the world. It also portrays Facebook as one of the leaders in this segment," said Jean-Renaud Durbin, general manager at Thecontent|Factory, a Dubai-based integrated marketing communications agency. "We have witnessed the real strength in using social media platforms to energise our clients' businesses quickly and cost effectively."

Social media platforms are closing the information gap between the east and west, and north and south. The Middle East and specifically the UAE is fast catching up with more technologically advanced countries, including the US and the UK.

Supporting the potential of social networking sites and Facebook in particular, Mohammed Al Murad, Marketing Director, Channel 4 Radio Network, said their radio network began using Facebook more than a year-and-a-half ago.

"We realised the potential of this fast-growing tool in its embryonic stages and created Facebook pages for our various stations catering to dedicated communities."

The radio network intends to further enhance the usage of Facebook with dedicated applications, which it is working on currently.

In terms of media and marketing, Facebook has become a platform that cannot be overlooked. World leading media brands such as CNN, BBC and The Economist are using this social platform as a medium to target and engage both new and existing audience.

"Facebook in the UAE has seen its users grow by 11 per cent over the last six months. Therefore, it is even more important to follow an integrated communications approach in terms of distribution in order to reach the right audiences at the right time," said Durbin.

Facebook has also announced plans to embark on a massive advertising campaign for luring advertisers on its site. For this, a regional company ConnectAds was appointed by Facebook to sell advertising space.

With offices in four cities in the region and headquartered in Cairo, ConnectAds intends to cover 15 of the main countries of the region. "Our reach is in all the major Arab-speaking nations of the region, and we cover 15 markets including Pakistan," said Mohammed El Mehairy, Managing Director, Connect Ads.

According to recent statistics published by Business Monitor International, the UAE's internet penetration has reached 54.3 per cent with the total number of internet users expected to reach 3.77 million by 2013. Given that Facebook has achieved great exposure in the Arab region with 9.7 million subscribers, including an average of 1,205,700 users in the UAE and almost 2.4 million in Egypt, this reflects the significance of this partnership.

Regarding the benefit of the alliance, Mehairy said: "This latest addition to our solutions will facilitate the purchase of prime advertisement solutions on one of the world's most popular websites, accessed by all demographics globally and especially the Middle East, which represents a strategic market."

Murad, after tasting the reach of Facebook was equally supportive of advertising on the platform. "We have been using this platform for more than 18 months and if advertising on it can give us additional exposure, certainly we will cash in on it," said Murad.

Facebook has over 400 million users worldwide. The portal that ignited the social media network phenomenon has more than seven million pages on its portal and around half a million applications generated by users with little control by Facebook.