Interesting new infographic showing the number of active Twitter users in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). The most useful stats are the ones that show the percentage of population penetration as the 215,000 figure for Egypt reflects its larger population as despite the hype since the Arab Spring penetration is only 0.26%.
The highest penetration is in the GCC states around the Gulf. Kuwait tops the list with 8.13% penetration, followed by Bahrain 4.28%, Qatar 2.22%, United Arab Emirates (UAE) 2.16% and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) 1.37%. Palestine is also in the top half of the list with a penetration of 0.36% which equates to 15,500 active users with Jordan on 0.57% and Lebanon on 1.06%.
I’m not surprised to see Kuwait at the top of the list as when I’ve been in the Gulf doing online PR and social media training I’ve seen some quite impressive examples of Twitter being used. One that is worth taking a look at is VIVA Telecom where Salman Bin Avdulaziz Al Badran, CEO of Kuwait Telecom Co, who has a verified Twitter account and is very active even personally responding to customers. He mainly tweets in Arabic, so it’s also worth following Sarah Al-Foudari, his senior communications counsel who tweets in both Arabic and English. The @VIVAtelecom Twitter account provides customer service from 9am to 4pm during the normal working week (Sunday to Thursday in the Gulf).
UPDATE: On closer inspection the map appears to be wrong as it is missing Ethiopia and Southern Sudan.
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- Middle East expansion for Facebook (stuartbruce.biz)
- Arabic overtakes English as the most popular language on Facebook in the Middle East (thenextweb.com)
It really is no wonder why Kuwait would top the list of Arab countries with the most twitter users. After all Kuwait is one of the richest and most progressive countries in the world. I have seen quite a number of pictures of the splendid city but have not had the occasion to actually visit. I hope someday soon I can.