AN EXPLORATORY STUDY OF THE PROFILE OF THE SAUDI USER OF SOCIAL MEDIA (original) (raw)

The use of social networks is entering the era of maturity. The large technology vendors are all the more interested in getting involved in the Social Media game unable to afford being left out of these compact and huge potential markets. This exploratory quantitative study aims to reveal those demographics facts related with the usage of the social networks in Saudi Arabia that form the profile of the local user. The findings show a general agreement with the main conclusion of other public surveys in the country pointing to a heavy use of the social networks, at more than 85%. They also suggest that the younger the individual the more likely it is to get involved in the Social Media and in the case of female individuals, though slightly less in population, but seemingly more intense use of them. Education does not seem to affect the frequency of the use as long as the individual are at least basically educated. Likewise income and employment status only indirectly affect this use since they affect the amount of free time one has to get involved with the social networks. Finally, as expected, the more one is connected to the Internet the heavier the use of the Social Media.