Snapchat use rising among Saudis

ABHA: A report by a British research company has revealed that Saudis are the top users of Snapchat in the Arab world, and second worldwide, which they use to share information, events in their lives and market their businesses.
In November 2014, there were more than 6 billion daily views of clips and stories, three times higher than in May 2014, according to the Financial Times newspaper.
A recent Snapchat statistic revealed that about 9,000 files are downloaded per second. It would take a user 10 years to view all the uploaded images downloaded in one hour.
Journalist Mariam Al-Jaber said that people have been using social media platforms, especially the youth, to express their views and concerns. However, this has resulted in people conducting less face-to-face communication.
“I don’t like long videos so I simply press ‘skip.’ There are people who use Snapchat for education, entertainment and even advertising.”
Ibrahim Khairullah, a Saudi creative director who works for 11 TV, said his company uses the platform to disseminate stories to about 150,000 followers. These people also share their stories, including what they have eaten for the day.
Bayan Linjawi, a social activist, said she raises important issues on her account. “I discuss their concerns in an easy and smooth manner. Snapchat has opened up new horizons for me to get a huge number of followers; most of them are young people.”
“There is a vital interaction between me and my followers. I believe that I have so many viewers because I am spontaneous. I share with my followers some food recipes and also help to rebuild poor people’s houses.”