Around 42% of people in Qatar read news online now, and it's growing
There are more people in Qatar who get their news online than some countries in the Middle East, according to a six-nation survey conducted by Northwestern University in Qatar (NU-Q) in partnership with Doha Film Institute (DFI).
The study on media use in the Middle East released on Wednesday, found that more people are getting their news online than in print.
Qatar leads in reading news online daily (42%), followed by Saudi Arabia (39%). Daily newspaper readership in Qatar is 32% and 25% in the UAE.
The study sheds new light on the shift from TV to online video. Daily TV viewing dropped in Qatar by 21%, Saudi Arabia (16) and Egypt (7%). But television still remains the platform of choice in the Middle East for watching films — 90%.
While most in the region now watch film and video online, fewer than 5% have paid money to do so in the past year.
Amid concerns about online privacy, social media use in the Middle East is shifting from Twitter and Facebook to direct-messaging platforms such as Snapchat and WhatsApp.
The study found video-centric Snapchat is among the most popular platforms in the high-bandwidth Gulf countries.
The region is divided on whose responsibility it is to block objectionable content. More nationals in Egypt, Qatar and Saudi Arabia believe it is the responsibility of governments to block objectionable content, while majorities in the UAE, Lebanon and Tunisia believe it is the responsibility of the individual to avoid such content.
Use of Instagram in the region increased by 24% between 2013 and 2016 and Facebook’s popularity has declined in the past three years by 6%.
Twitter shows the biggest decline over the past three years, 17%, with a 12% drop from one year ago.
While Internet penetration levels are up in the region, Internet and smartphone penetration are significantly higher in the GCC.
The UAE has the highest rate of Internet penetration with most nationals saying they are being connected to the Internet this year. Closely following are Qatar and Saudi Arabia, both at 93%.
Smartphone penetration is highest in the UAE (99%), Qatar (95%), Saudi Arabia (95%), and Lebanon (90%), and lowest in Egypt (61%) and Tunisia (43%).
Middle Eastern music is proving significantly more popular than American music across the region.
Similar to the trends in film viewing, younger people are more likely to listen to non-Arabic music but are also more likely to listen to music from their own country than older people.
The comprehensive annual survey examines the use of and attitudes toward media among 6,058 adults (4,529 nationals) in Egypt, Lebanon, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Tunisia and the UAE.
Courtesy: thepeninsulaqatar.com
It's a pity that people get their 'news' from social networks. These aren't 'news', these are opinions! I consider that a quite dangerous and uncontrollable situation, at least for the governments. The only solution for them will be to shut down the Internet in the future.
Great feeling when it grows - brings joys
We like it growing ............