ARAB SOCIAL MEDIA REPORT

With the growing economic and developmental challenges in the Arab region, innovative approaches are critically needed by governments, the private sector and civil society organizations in order to adapt to pressing social, economic and political transformations. Technology has always been as a key enabler for better development, governance and, more recently, with the growth of social media usage in the Arab region, for inclusive policy formulation. The exponential penetration rates and the creative adoption of social media in the Arab region have opened new horizons for multifaceted innovations by individuals, developmental uses by government entities and unleashed new social trends by different forces in Arab societies. Social media technologies today are increasingly being acknowledged by different Arab government organizations as core enablers for inclusive policy formulation and better service delivery on an institutional level.

The Arab Social Media report Series has explored the growth and usage trends of social media in the Arab region in depth since 2011. The series has become the key source of quantitative research on social media’s growth and usage trends in the Arab world. Additionally, we conducted numerous exploratoryqualitative surveys to get an in-depth assessment of regional perceptionsand actual usage and impact of social media in Arab societies. The findings of the series revealed new transformations in areas varying from impact on social and cultural changes, youth and women’s empowerment, government adoption, entrepreneurship and employment, freedom of expression, media consumption behaviors and the role in popular civic movements. In this fifth issue of the report, we focus on impact of social media use on education in the Arab region.

For questions or media enquiries please email the authors at: socialmedia@dsg.ac.ae