WhatsApp and Facebook are most popular in UAE

The Federal Competitiveness and Statistics Authority has revealed the results of a survey about the public use of social media.

According to the survey, the results show that WhatsApp and Facebook are the most popular with 97 percent and 89 percent, followed by YouTube with 73 percent. The least popular form of social media are Snapchat and LinkedIn, with 27 percent and 16 percent. LinkedIn is used mostly by the age group between 22 and 34 years old, while the age group between 18 and 21 years old had the highest rate of social media usage.

The report showed a difference in the favourite platforms between citizens and residents. For citizens, WhatsApp came first at 96 percent followed by Instagram at 78 percent and Snapchat at 62 percent. For residents, WhatsApp also came first at 97 percent, followed by Facebook at 93 percent then YouTube at 75 percent.

According to Abdullah Lootah, the Director-General of the Federal Competitiveness and Statistics Authority, the survey will enable the leadership and people of the nation to find the right direction towards innovation and employing modern technology and social media to serve society. This comes from solid scientific evidence and modern data, so it can become an example for everyone including decision makers and specialists.

He added that with the level of technological growth in the UAE, it is important to learn about new developments in social media, the diversity of its audience and its new technological platforms.

Sumaya Saeed, Director of Government Communication at the Federal Competitiveness and Statistics Authority, stressed the growing importance of social media platforms in building bridges of communication between the government authorities and decision-makers, and the public.

"The results show many important facts about the uses of social media in the country by citizens and residents in different age groups, and we hope that the institutes and governmental authorities, both federal and local, benefit from this research to develop and activate their presence on these platforms in order to serve the citizens and residents, and make them happy.