Tag Archives: Northwestern University in Qatar

Northwestern University Qatar: A case study of civil protest through social media

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I’m in awe right now. Of one professor at Northwestern University in Qatar. And also the students. They’ve shown that it is possible to hold people to account for their actions and words through civil protest, both online and offline, in the Gulf.

Let’s start from the beginning. Journalism professor Justin Martin recounted how the University’s Dean had responded to student concerns that graduation would be held on the first day of Ramadan during fasting hours by saying to 40 faculty, “They can go to hell.”

This revelation, as well as insights from others, spurred the student campus to take action and voice their views collectively. What’s surprised me is how united the response has been to this incident, and how it’s brought together all nationalities to act together, through voicing their views on social media, through protesting on campus, and through setting up social media channels dedicated to the student campus. A sample of the responses is below.

The response from the University hasn’t been any different from what I’d have expected, with a statement put out that is a sorry/not sorry and which places the blame on Professor Martin himself as the whistleblower (without naming him).

“Over the weekend a series of tweets targeting the dean and members of the staff and faculty at Northwestern University in Qatar was posted. The statements were based on comments and blogs that were made some time ago – from the last academic year to one that was posted 10 years ago.

Supporting the well-being of our community – faculty, staff, and students – is our highest priority, and we take actions like this very seriously. We will continue to monitor this situation and offer our support when needed.

As a community, we all have a responsibility to be respectful of each other and our differences. Over the past decade, there have been instances where we failed to reach that standard and for that, we apologize.

There are no claims of perfection at NU-Q; we are all human; however, we are also one community. It grieves us that someone within NU-Q would try to hurt this community that we all have worked so hard to create.”

In a region where so many grievances aren’t aired out of fear of reprisal (such as termination or deportation), it’s brilliant to see young people in a university standing up so bravely to state their views with respect and civility. The Gulf needs more of us to speak up for what is right, and Dr Martin and Northwestern University in Qatar’s students have shown that it is possible for a group to stand up and advocate for both respect and understanding from those in power. All the power to them, and I hope that NUQatar’s administration both takes the time to actually listen and act.

Out with the old Social Media, in with the new? Twitter & Facebook supposedly declining, Snapchat and WhatsApp on the rise across MENA

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Some more stats for you, this time from Northwestern University in Qatar and the Doha Film Institute. And the outcomes are an eye opener.

The survey, which polled 6,058 adults (4,529 nationals) in Egypt, Lebanon, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Tunisia and the United Arab Emirates, looked to explore the relationship between cultural attitudes, censorship, regulation and online surveillance, online and social media, film, TV, music, games, sports, news, and children’s media. When it comes to the social media side, the results surprised me. To quote the press release.

Use of Instagram across the region increased by 24 percentage points between 2013 and 2016, and Facebook’s popularity has declined in the last three years by 6 percentage points. Twitter, however, shows the biggest decline over the past three years—17 percentage points—with a 12 percentage point drop from just one year ago. Three-quarters of Egyptian internet users say that concerns about privacy have changed the way they use social media, second only to the 89 percent of Saudis who say the same.

Or, to put it another way.

The survey by Northwestern University in Qatar shows a general decline in usage of Facebook and Twitter, along with an uptake for Instagram

The survey by Northwestern University in Qatar shows a general decline in usage of Facebook and Twitter, along with an uptake for Instagram

Another interesting point that the survey brought to light was usage of instant messaging services. The research found that, “though more young nationals use social media in general, WhatsApp is more popular among the oldest group (45+) than the youngest group (18-24) (83% vs. 74%).” One note on the below – as a VoIP service Viber is banned in the UAE, which may have skewed the results.

WhatsApp is by far the most popular social messaging service, particularly among older users

WhatsApp is by far the most popular social messaging service, particularly among older users

The research asked users what they were doing online, and what they were using each social media platform for. Unsurprisingly, the overwhelming answer was to communicate with friends and family.

The overwhelming reason for using social media on most channels is to communicate with friend and family

The overwhelming reason for using social media on most channels is to communicate with friend and family

For you marketers and communicators out there, if you’re looking for more information on social media usage across the region, including a breakdown by the countries surveyed, do go and check out the research here. While I’d take certain findings with a pinch of salt, especially the drop in Twitter usage, do bear in mind that the social media networks rarely share their own internal numbers in the region publicly. So, if you’re looking for statistics direct from the social media networks themselves to create/develop your social media outreach, you may be best off approaching contacts at Facebook, Google and Twitter to try your luck.

Is a lack of Arabic content and low digital spending a challenge or opportunity for MENA marketers?

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What should one be doing online in the Middle East? It’s always been a mystery, to me at least, that companies aren’t more active in the digital space in the region. Well, the researchers at the Northwestern University in Qatar and the Doha Film Institute have come up with some findings that underline how organizations are missing the boat when it comes to the Arab consumer and the internet (there’s been plenty of coverage on the study, including this piece on Stepfeed).

Firstly, let’s look at Arabic language content on the web. The researchers used a number of methods to understand how much Arabic content was online. One of the most interesting means used was to look at the 50 most popular web sites in Egypt, Qatar, Saudi and the UAE based on Alexa rankings to understand if Arabic was used and, if so, whether Arabic was the primary or secondary language. The results may, or may not, surprise you.

The research surveyed the 50 most visited websites in each country to understand how Arabic was used.

The research surveyed the 50 most visited websites in each country to understand how Arabic was used.

As the report itself states:

Despite a rapid increase in the number of Arabic-speaking Internet users, Arabic content remains one of the most under-represented languages online in terms of its share of the world’s websites. Even in predominantly Arabic-speaking countries like Egypt, a third of the top 50 visited websites are either not available in Arabic or do not include Arabic as the “default” or primary language.

It’s not all bad news however, according to Klaus Schoenbach, Associate Dean for Research, at Northwestern University in Qatar. He believes that content generated by users, particularly on social media, makes up for this corporate shortfall.

The findings do not necessarily suggest that Arabic content is low overall. Relative to the approximately 6 percent of Arabic speakers in the world, it is true that there are a disproportionately low number of Arabic websites on the Internet; however, by some metrics Arabic has a disproportionately high representation in social media. One possible reason for this could be that much of the Arab world came fully online during or after the rise of a social-dominated Internet, which replaced the original website-based Internet.

Still, the question remains. Why are businesses not focusing more on Arabic? Isn’t this a huge (and easy) opportunity to get right?

The second obvious challenge is spending online. Right, let me ask you lot. Who uses the internet? Did you use it today? Did you use it for a couple of hours? You probably answered in the affirmative to all of those questions. And yet, ad spending online in the MENA region is only 10 percent. To quote from the research:

Advertising on digital media is continuing to grow both globally and regionally. Worldwide, total digital advertising spend has sustained high growth over the past five years at an 18 percent CAGR. While MENA only represents 0.3 percent of global digital ad spend, it has grown at a phenomenal CAGR of 39 percent, by far the biggest growth rate in the world and almost double the rate of most other markets. Digital ad revenues were worth USD 550 million in 2015, contributing to about 10n percent of the region’s total ad revenues. But while MENA’s digital share of ad spend is catching up, it is still far behind advanced markets, where digital ad spend typically holds a 30 percent share.

This chart tracks approximate online spending from 2010 to 2015 both in terms of revenues as well as a percentage of total ad spending.

This chart tracks approximate online spending from 2010 to 2015 both in terms of revenues as well as a percentage of total ad spending.

Considering the ubiquity of online usage across the Gulf, including via mobile, the question one must ask is obvious. Why isn’t more being spent online? Consumers are online, so shouldn’t marketers be online with their brands as well?

The full report can be accessed at http://www.mideastmedia.org. It’s well worth a read for anyone interested in media across the region.