ABU DHABI // Female Emiratis are among the highest users of social media in the world, a study has found.
Research by Hanan Abdullah for her master’s degree at the University of Wollongong in Dubai found that 99 per cent of Emirati teenage girls had an email account, compared with 97 per cent of Emirati adult women.
It also found that 97 per cent of the teenagers in the sample had at least three accounts on social-media websites, as did 87 per cent of the women.
Ms Abdullah questioned women aged between 17 and 24 years of age, according to a report in Al Ittihad, the Arabic-language sister newspaper of The National.
She found that the reasons for the use of social media included sourcing information and socialising with friends.
Ms Abdullah recommended further studies of social-media usage among young people, as motivations vary according to different age groups.
Instagram was the most commonly used site by teenagers and adults for networking purposes, while the adults preferred Twitter to keep an eye on world events. The study also found most teenagers used YouTube for educational purposes.
Emirati teenage girls backed the findings, saying they were avid users of social media to communicate with each other.
Zaynab Al Attas, 14, has accounts in on seven social-media applications, which she constantly checks for “new updates or anything interesting”.
“What attracts me to social media is the different type of pictures people post and what people tweet about because to me it shows what they think about the most. I think it’s nice to know different people instead of dealing with the same people regularly,” she said.
On Twitter, Zaynab usually tweets about her “love of books and funny jokes”, or anything that interests people. She also uses Instagram to post pictures about her daily life.
“The purpose of me using social media is because I don’t go out much, which means I don’t meet new people. I find that boring and so I use social media as an easy access to meet new people. It fascinates me how one person can be so different and then there are others that are the same,” she said.
She said the applications allowed her to communicate with her friends and family in an easy way.
She also uses several other chatting networks and an online reading and writing application where she can read her favourite books.
Fatima Al Breiki, 16, said she used her Twitter and Instagram accounts “all the time”.
“Whenever I am holding my phone, I am either on Twitter or Instagram. I enjoy the ability to communicate with others through them when I can’t physically be with them,” she said.
“I use Instagram also to order things from businesses, it is easier for me. YouTube I use to catch up on the series that I have missed and sometimes to watch movies.”
Aisha Al Nuaimi, 14, said she has six social-media accounts including Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat and Tumblr.
“I use Twitter to tweet my daily events, share my feelings with others. Twitter is the social media I use and like the most. On Instagram, I share posts when we go on family trips,” she said. She also uses the Ask application, where users ask other users questions anonymously. She said it gives her friends the chance to ask her questions.
“On social media I share lovely memories with others, knowing new places in the world and sharing tourism images from any part of the Emirates,” she said.
aalkhoori@thenational.ae
