Mr. Fadl Tarzi - Public Sphere Revolution - the Advent of Social Media in the Middle East

Public Sphere Revolution: The Advent of Social Media in
the Middle East
Arabian Social Media Conference,
Kuwait, May 9-10

 The MENA region’s first and leading provider of Arabic social media analytics & engagement services
 Founded in November 2009 and officially launched in February 2010
 Core services include: monitoring, analysis, reporting, and engagement including OCRM
 Regional & Global presence in Egypt, Jordan, Morocco, Tunisia, KSA, Kuwait, USA, UK and Argentina
 In partnership with Alterian, we have developed the world’s leading Arabic social media listening tool
 Over 120 staff members on the ground across the Middle East
| Background
About Us

What are we talking about?
“Social Media is the democratization of
information, transforming people from content
readers into publishers. It is the shift from a
broadcast mechanism, one-to-many, to a many-
to-many model, rooted in conversations
between authors, people, and peers.”
According to Brian Solis
“Social media is basic communication, like what
you do everyday.”
“It describes the zillions of conversations people
are having online 24/7.”

Governments and Social Media
• Governments all over the world have been late to join the social media scene and slow to
recognize it as a legitimate form of media.
• In the past, Arab governments have either ignored social media or tried to control it.
• Social media has often been labeled as a kind of “yellow journalism” and its users accused of
being rabble-rousers. State access to conventional media has been used to fight this battle.
• Governments are now starting to experiment to different degrees with social media and
attempting to diversify their media policy and strategy to include and acknowledge social
media.
Public Sphere Revolution: The Advent of Social Media in the Middle East

Social Media for Predictive Analysis – Egypt example
70% of online conversations directly called for a larger economic role by the government
Sample Verbatim from social media users in Egypt:
Term February 2011 Mentions % Increase from January
Salary increase 1.2 million 63%
Food subsidies 800 k 54%
Job creation 1.5 million 46%
Public healthcare 700 k 21%
"I say no to privatization, and I call on the government
to cancel it at all as it does not work for our interests.
The state has to support its development institutions
and do without any foreign aids. "
"This is privatization: the government sells its
properties, which are originally owned by the people, at
very low prices for the interest of a bunch of corrupt
people. Privatization means stealing the money of the
people.“
"Desert lands in Egypt are large and abundant, and it is our rights as lower-income
people to have wide and beautiful apartments with green areas around. “

Detecting Trends through Social Media
Socio-
Economic
Income
Jobs
Minimum
Wage
HousingCorruption
Police
Brutality
Salary
Political
Revolution
Corruption
Mubarak
MinisterNDP
Parliament
Freedom
In Q 1 2010 57% of Arabic conversations
on social media included socio-economic
terms, this number drops to 37% in 2011.
In Q 1 2010 35% of Arabic conversations on
social media included political terms, this
number increases to 88% in 2011

User discussions on Social Media sparked a revolution
11,682
27,810
36,270
44,664 38,086
137,486
278,186
1/16/2011 1/17/2011 1/18/2011 1/19/2011 1/20/2011 1/24/2011 1/25/2011
Fever of the
Tunisian
revolution
spreads among
the Egyptian
public, amid
calls by many
Egyptians to
stage a
revolution on
January 25.
Facebook users in
Egypt continue to
discuss holding a
revolution on Jan
25th with the aim
of demanding
improving the
citizens’
conditions
Following the
incident in Tunisia,
an Egyptian man
sets himself on fire
outside the main
gate of the
parliament. Two
similar incidents
followed on the
19th.
Egyptian
people still
contemplate a
possible public
revolution on
January 25
January 25 (Police Day) is
the confirmed date for
the Egyptian popular
uprising, to protest the
poor living conditions in
the country
Egyptians anticipate the
popular sit-in of anger
day on the streets amid
security enforcements
for fear of chaos in the
country .
Tipping point from
socio-economic to
political
Calls for the January 25th revolution became the 4th most discussed subject on social
media across the entire Arab world” on January 20th

Why Are Governments Shifting Towards Social Media?
1. The Arab Spring: Ignoring social media can contribute to unexpected outcomes

2. Social media is where the people are, especially the younger demographic.
• There were an estimated 1,150, 292 active Twitter users in the Arab
region at the end of March 2011.
• At the end of the first quarter of 2011, the number of tweets in the
Arab region had risen to 155 million a day, up from 55 million a day the
same time the previous year.
• Between January and April 2011, the total number of Facebook users in
the Arab world grew from 21, 377, 282 to 27,711,503 users.
• Youth between the ages of 15-29 make up 75% of Facebook users in
the Arab region.
• There is an average ratio of 2:1 male to female Facebook users in the
Arab region, compared to 1:1 worldwide.
*Taken from the Dubai School of Government’s Arab Social Media Report
Arab Social Media Fact Box*:

Twitter
users
Penetration
(%)
Saudi Arabia 115,000 0.42
UAE 201,000 2.43
Kuwait 113,000 3.24
Qatar 133,000 7.83
Oman 6,680 0.22
Bahrain 61,900 5.01
3. Governments or leaders need to go to their constituent’s turf to hear what they have
to say and speak into the ear of the audience, wherever it is. Constituents are not
likely to come to leaders, and even if they do, their message will likely be distorted
by layers of bureaucrats and media elites.
FB users Penetration
(%)
Saudi Arabia 4,092,600 15.08
UAE 2,406,120 29.13
Kuwait 795,100 22.82
Qatar 481,280 28.32
Oman 277,840 8.95
Bahrain 302,940 24.54

4. Social media has become one of the fastest ways for governments to create dialogue
with the public and communicate their side of the story.
Egypt’s Supreme Council of Armed Forces joined Facebook on
February 16, 2011. The Qatari Interior Ministry joined on
September 6, 2011.

What is the added value of social media?
Traditional
media
New media
Social
media
Elite-dominated platform
One-to-many
Public-dominated platform
One-to-many
Public-dominated platform
Many-to-many
With social media, every user has the right to produce content and messages are delivered
through dialogue rather than instruction or pedagogy. Successful social media strategies will
recognize that the most valuable element of social media is the user-generated content.

What are people talking about in the GCC?
Top political discussions in GCC countries in the past ten days:
Topic Volume
Bahrain protests on Labor Day 120,587
Bahrain MP survives armed robbery 90,470
Saudi Arabia withdraws ambassador from Egypt, closes embassy 50,267
Saudi Arabia stops issuing visas to Egyptians 20,847
Bahraini King accuses media of exaggerating events in Bahrain 20,795
Bahraini activist Nabil Ragab arrested upon return from Beirut 20,537
Qatar considers cancelling sponsorship program 20,394
Saudi hashtag “An Egyptian who impacted my life” trends on Twitter 10,899
Kuwait’s current and former PM’s quizzed over graft case 10,517
Dubai police chief makes statement about Iranian escalation over disputed islands 10,249

Social media at play: Citizens take initiative to thaw Saudi-Egyptian tensions
• Users discussed the arrest of the Egyptian lawyer in
Saudi Arabia, the protests at the Saudi Embassy in Cairo,
Saudi-Egyptian relations and the closure of the
Kingdom’s embassy in Egypt.
• Responses ranged from anger with the Egyptian’s arrest
to criticism of both the Saudi and Egyptian governments’
handling of the situation.
• Following the embassy closure and attempts at the
official level to thaw the tensions, there was a parallel
movement on social media platforms to thaw relations
on the popular level, sparked by Twitter hashtags such
as # ‫مصري‬_‫أثر‬_‫في‬_‫حياتي‬ and # ‫سعودي‬_‫أثر‬_‫في‬_‫حياتي‬ .
• The hashtags quickly trended as both Saudi and Egyptian
tweeters began to express their appreciation for
influential figures and thinkers from both cultures.
Abdulaziz Arab: “The greatest blessing is that I
memorized the holy Quran and the Seven
readings, and got a license to preach with the
help of an Egyptian sheikh.”
Yasser Hareb: “Thank you wonderful
Saudis for what you wrote; it shows
maturity and popular wisdom.”
Noha Redwan : “I just want to say something to
the people who observe the hashtag # ‫فى_حياتى‬ _‫أثر‬
_‫:سعودى‬ (Our problems lie in governments, not
people). There’s a member of every Egyptian
family working in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.”
Louay AlKhlewy : “Some wanted to drive a wedge
between the Egyptian and Saudi peoples, but it
turned out to become a good change to renew the
relations of brotherhood and love.”

What are governments/leaders taking away from all of this?
• That social media is forcing them to compete to
convey a message and is no less important than
traditional media.
• That social media can and often does shape the
news.
• That social media can be one of the tools in a
process towards responsive, negotiated,
manageable change(s) rather than explosive and
unstable change. This is an interest they now
share with many Arab publics that desire change
and reform, but not necessarily on the
revolutionary models of today.

How are governments/leaders using social media?
• Basic monitoring to gather feedback on domestic and
foreign policy issues, officials’ performance, etc.
• To participate in public conversations that have been
taking place in the absence of governments and
officials for years.
• To better manage public services and make them
more responsive and user-friendly.
• The UAE’s Road and Transport Authority (RTA)
recently won Best Social Media Campaign in the
Government Sector at the Internet Awards Middle
East.
• Some governments continue to use social media to
identify and subvert critics and opposition.
• Threat detection and predictive analysis: trends often
emerge online before spilling offline.

The Arab Social Media Report of May 2011 found mapped calls for protest on
FB with actual protests offline. It found that in 9 out of 10 cases, protests that
were initiated on FB materialized on the street:

What are the potential uses of social media in the Arab political sphere?
• For governments, unfiltered engagement at levels of policy and public service
provision.
• For politicians in countries with competitive politics, to build and communicate
with constituents, manage campaigns.
• For special interest groups, to find like-minded individuals and promote
causes/interests.
• For traditional media, a source of stories and an insight into emerging trends.

Define
Objective
Listen
AnalyzeEngage
Measure
Listen
Analyze
Engage
Measure
Keep it simple
If you haven’t defined your objectives
yet, gather intelligence then build a
more informed decision
The 5 Step Process for Managing Social Media

The Four Phases of Social Media Management

5 Common Social Media Mistakes and How to Avoid Them
1. Showing up isn't enough.
Customers and prospects are busy, connected and interacting with everybody but you today.
While creating a presence is a start, it is how you engage with people that attracts them to
you. This requires an engagement program -- that is, a plan for using social media to meet
goals -- that extends beyond the typical marketing of "follow us on Twitter" or "Like us on
Facebook."
2. You can't be everywhere, nor should you.
Many entrepreneurs are excited about technology and they overextend themselves because
they want to be part of the latest trend. The key is to only be where your customers,
prospects and those who influence them engage.
3. Authenticity and transparency are nothing without a connection.
• The two magical ingredients to a successful social media effort are: authenticity and
transparency. The only problem is that they don't really equate to a strategy. Rather,
these two traits contribute more to a "digital way" or "guiding light" than they do as a
form of effective engagement.
• Without delivering value, conveying a meaningful mission and vision, or establishing a
connect-worthy presence, authenticity and transparency have nothing to reinforce.

5 Common Social Media Mistakes and How to Avoid Them
4. Talking to people isn't a business/government strategy.
• Some people run effective social media programs by listening instead of actually
saying anything.
• But no matter if you converse with customers or not, you must have a purpose
before you can engage. They want tangible value and through research, you'll
learn what a desirable engagement program actually looks like.
• Don't get caught up in only replying to brand mentions. Your real opportunity is to
also engage and convert those people not already talking about you.
5. Keep your core customers tuned in – even if you’re a gov organization.
• Companies believe that uploading a video to Youtube is the key to anything
going viral. What they don't know is, 48 Hours of video is uploaded every minute
to Youtube. The chance of your video going viral naturally is basically nil.
• However, with the Old Spice and Evian Rollerbaby examples, they identified all
of the potential influencers in their space and reached out to them in advance of
and during the video release. They sought help to make sure that the video was
shared.
• Remember though, going viral only counts if it impacts your brand. If it creates
lift, leaves an imprint or if it drives action or outcomes, that's when you're going
viral.

Top Analysis Mistakes
1. Analyzing with no Context
2. Thinking followers & fans are worth money
3. Automating Sentiment Analysis
4. Focusing on a single SM platform
5. Measuring influence by number of followers / fans
6. Measuring with no objectives
7. Event-based & not trend-based analysis

Some great quotes!
“You are the tool for social media, Twitter is just an app for you to grow
and influence your society.” – Razan Khatib
“Social Media is about the people! Not about your business. Provide for
the people and the people will provide for you.” -Matt Goulart
“ATA – be AUTHENCTIC, be TRANSPARENT, be ALTRUISTIC, and you will
find enough success in social media to have a satisfying career and
experience.” – Nils Montan
“Networking is not about hunting. It is about farming. It’s about cultivating
relationships. Don’t engage in ‘premature solicitation’. You’ll be a better
networker if you remember that.” – Dr. Ivan Misner, NY bestselling author &
founder of BNI
“You will make mistakes. If you are sincere about helping the community,
the authenticity will show and your mistakes will be forgiven.” – Zia Yusuf,
executive vice president for SAP’s global ecosystem and partner group

My favorite Quote
“If you make enough people
angry – you will be replaced”
Fadl Al Tarzi

Fadl Al Tarzi
Write to me @
fadl@newsgroupholding.com
Tweet @
@FTarzi
Visit our website
www.social-eyez.com
Read our blog
www.blog.socialeyez.ae
https://twitter.com/Social_Eyez

Mr. Fadl Tarzi - Public Sphere Revolution - the Advent of Social Media in the Middle East

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Mr. Fadl Tarzi - Public Sphere Revolution - the Advent of Social Media in the Middle East