While the public sector in a majority of Arab countries continues to suffer from mounting deficiencies in terms of quality, efficiency and accessibility of government service, the continued growth of social media penetration in the Arab region is increasing the potential for governments to engage citizen on enhancing public services. Under the title ‘Citizen Engagement and Public Services in the Arab World: The Potential of Social Media’, the sixth edition of the Arab Social Media Report series was launched today by the Governance and Innovation Program at the Mohammed Bin Rashid School of Government.
- Twitter Registers 5.8 Million Active Arab Users; Facebook Arab Users close to 82 Million
- Saudi Arabia Accounts for 40% of Arab Twitter Users, Egypt Constitutes 24% of Facebook Users in Region
- Over 17 Million Tweets Produced Daily in Arab World
- UAE Leads in LinkedIn Penetration, Qatar Registers Highest Facebook Penetration while Kuwait Notches Highest Twitter Penetration
In addition to analyzing patterns, demographic breakdowns and usage trends of key social media platforms across the Arab world, the report studies the influence of social media on reforming and reshaping the delivery of government services, based on a regional survey conducted among several thousand participants across the Arab world.
The report revealed that Arabs have positive attitudes towards getting engaged by government through social media for public service design and delivery. As part of the findings of the survey, 55% of the respondents said they strongly support the government’s use of social media for the design and delivery of public services. Respondents also agreed that social media facilitates better accessibility to government entities and public sector officials.
