However, according to the report findings, social media is still used in the Arab region as a one-way information source for the majority of those who utilize it to interact with government. Only 2% of the respondents reported visiting official social media pages or using their personal social media accounts for sourcing information on public services. Of the 63% who do utilize government social media pages, 74% only use it to access information on government services and entities, while giving feedback, sending complaints or new ideas to government ranked lower.
Fadi Salem, Director of the Governance and Innovation Program at the Mohammed Bin Rashid School of Government, and co-author of the report, said: “We are still in a beginning of an era where technology is empowering the public and allowing for collaboration opportunities between government and society. With around 82 million Facebook users and 5.8 million active Twitter users in the Arab world today, more than 22 percent of Arabs are actively using social media platforms in innovative ways.”
Additionally, the report findings suggests that increased connectivity, coupled with the low levels of quality and accessibility of public services in the region prompted many civil society structures to utilize social media tools to fill gaps in service delivery. “Social media is providing a growing space for the ‘3rd sector’ in many Arab countries. Around 42% of respondents in our research said that civic organizations in their country were using social media to deliver some services that the government was not providing. This not only highlights the disruptive nature of new informational flows facilitated by social media tools, but also the relatively low levels of trust between government and society”, Salem added.
