139 ulation) compared to 99% in the United Arab Emirates, Egyptians spend on average 4 hours online every day on laptops/desktops and around 3 hours on their mobiles. Social media penetration in Egypt is also around 37% but users grow year-on-year by 25% (almost 50% of Facebook users are active daily) and in terms of mobile penetration Egypt ranks 24th internationally with a 103% rate.10 WHAT PROSPECTS? Clearly, something is changing in Saudi Arabia and Egypt but the same holds true for almost all countries in the MENA region, from Iraq to Algeria, and in particular for the protagonists of 2011. Developments in post-revolution Tunisia show that positive change has happened in the country since the removal of former leader Ben Ali. Though far from perfect, Tunisia’s new constitution, signed after the 2011 revolution, was hailed as the most progressive in the region, providing more freedom to criticise government and state institutions. Almost 50% of Tunisians believe that it is safe to express one’s ideas and opinions on
politics on the Internet (the highest rate after Lebanon).11 There are a number of reasons why Tunisia was able to create coalitions and witness a bloodless power transfer six years ago and one of the most important is probably the country’s high literacy rate, which during the revolution allowed a direct connection between the virtual reality of social media used by activists and society as a whole. However, in Tunisia, as in Egypt, widespread unemployment and extremism are perceived to be the greatest obstacles to social and political progress. The situation is not, however, very comforting. The case of Lebanon — where, compared to other countries, critics of the establishment are rather outspoken and tolerance for criticism against government policies offline is high (66% compared to 48% in Tunisia)12 — is quite unique. What is certain is that the connection between the social needs of the MENA countries and their communication through the social networks did not come to an end with the regression of the Arab Spring. That road remains open in all possible directions.
#med2017
the connection between the social needs of the MENA countries and their communication through the social networks did not come to an end with the regression of the Arab Spring