The number of Facebook users in the Arab world reached 27.7 million by the end of the first quarter of 2011, an increase of 30 per cent since the beginning of the year, according to a report.

The second Arab Social Media Report (ASMR), produced by the Governance and Innovation Programme at the Dubai School of Government, monitored the growth of Facebook and Twitter in the region, propelled by the uprisings sweeping the Arab world.

It revealed a substantial shift in the use of social media from social purposes towards civic and political action.

The number of active Twitter users in the Arab world during the same period, according to the report, was over 1.1 million users who tweeted at least once every two weeks. These ‘active users’ generated over 22.7 million tweets during the first quarter of 2011.

Regional Twitter trends during this period focused primarily on events unfolding during the Arab uprisings. The words ‘Egypt’, ‘Jan25’, ‘Libya’, ‘Bahrain’ and ‘protest’ were the top ‘hashtags’ used by Twitter users in the Arab region.

The report noted that though the UAE, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain and Lebanon are the leading five countries in the region according to the percentage of Facebook and Twitter users, social media growth was the fastest in those countries experiencing social unrest.

While Turkey continues to lead the region in terms of number of users, Egypt saw the highest increase in the number of users during the first quarter of 2011 among the Arab countries, adding close to two million Facebook users.

“Social media and its ability to influence grassroots civic engagements, participatory governance models and new social dynamics have been under intense debate in the Arab world in 2011,” said Fadi Salem, director of DSG’s Governance and Innovation Programme and co-author of the report.

“The growth of social media and the shifts in usage trends have played a critical role in mobilizing, empowering, shaping opinions and influencing change among the youth in the Arab world. A critical mass of young and influential social media users exists today, who lead the shift of usage trends from social into political nature across the region,” he added.

The findings of the report provide empirical evidence regarding the changing nature of social media usage in the region.

According to the report, youth between 15 and 29 continue to account for around 70 per cent of Arab Facebook users at the end of Q1 2011, while women constitute just a third of users across the region.

Racha Mourtada, research associate with the Governance and Innovation Programme at DSG and lead author of the report, said: “Governments in the region have responded to the rise of social media in a variety of ways.”

“While some have tried to block it, others have used social media to engage directly with their citizens. The Governance and Innovation Program at the Dubai School of Government has worked closely with governments in the region to develop official guidelines to promote social media usage by the government.”

During the civil movements sweeping the Arab region, several governments occasionally blocked access to the Internet and social media networks.

The report surveyed Facebook users in Tunisia and Egypt and found that six out of 10 respondents in both countries indicated that blocking access actually provided a boost to the movements, spurring protesters to more decisive and creative action.

The survey also indicated that around 85 per cent of respondents in both countries considered that social media usage during the movements in their countries was mainly for organizing people, disseminating information and raising awareness about the social movements. – TradeArabia News Service