Tweet this: How social media celebrated UAE National Day

An analysis of UAE National Day trending topics on social media shows that the highest amount of the conversations took place on Twitter (77.1 per cent) followed by Facebook (22.2 per cent).

The analysis, based on 19,369 mentions of the event, captured in both English and Arabic on social media in the UAE during the period November 15-December 5, 2015, was issued by Meltwater, a media intelligence firm.

The positive and joyous comments on social media included praises to the royal family and celebratory messages to the people in UAE. About two-thirds (63.4 per cent) of neutral comments were centred on National Day special campaigns organised by different organisations.

Total volume of the topics inside the UAE reached 8,955 comments with the following popular Hashtags:

#UAEnationalday - (50%)

#UAE44 - (42%)

 "The UAE National Day celebrations have clearly captured the imagination of the community as indicated by the high number of engaged users. With the increasing number of social media users, celebrations have now moved online, with real time content, hashtags and reposts creating a stronger engagement with the community," said Zubair Timol, Area Director for India, Middle East & Africa at Meltwater.

Celebrating the theme, "Home to the World", The Parade - Downtown Dubai, held at Mohammed Bin Rashid Boulevard on Saturday, November 28, received very positive engagement with residents who marched together to showcase the rich multicultural society living in Dubai in unique solidarity.

Hashtags used to highlight the parade were #ParadeDowntown, #UAE44 #HomeToTheWorld, with around 219 tweets captured with pictures related to floats, roaming entertainment, mascots and other performers depicting cultures and traditions from the world's continents.

In line with the vision to preserve the UAE's heritage through different sports and activities, the first UAE National Sports Day and first Camel Marathon were held as part of the celebrations for the UAE's 44th National Day. Hashtags #UAE_UNITES_US, #camelmarathon was used approximately 632 times, showing the enthusiasm and fanfare across the nation.