Citizens using social media to promote Saudi Arabia

Several Saudi-led fan pages and social media groups have been promoting the Kingdom in a modern, unorthodox and creative way, gathering support from locals, as well as expatriates of various nationalities.
Among the social media groups is “RiyadhTips,” a fan page launched by Saudi youth.
RiyadhTips provides facts, advice, pictures, videos and other content that describes Saudi Arabia’s capital in a modern and interactive fashion.
“The fan page reminded me of my time in Saudi Arabia as a student,” John, a foreigner who used to be a student in Riyadh, told Arab News.
“Facts posted by page administrators are entertaining and informative and make me nostalgic,” he added.
The group page, powered by Facebook, offers interactive features that encourage users to communicate through comments.
Among the latest posts in RiyadhTips, which gathered positive feedback from Internet users, is the “Keep calm and eat shawarma” picture with 950 likes and 153 shares.
The majority of foreigners who commented on the post expressed eagerness to taste the Kingdom’s trademark snack, while locals began brainstorming for the top shawarma outlet.
Another group garnering a large fan base is “Riyadh mEmEs,” which also shares the same purpose as the former group but focuses more on the fun and positive side of living in the Kingdom. The creator of the page emphasized that it is not meant to offend and is solely meant for entertainment purposes.
The group utilizes pictures and videos to express emotions online called “Internet memes,” which have gone viral over the past few years.
Internet memes refer to “an idea, style or action, which spreads, often as mimicry, from person to person via the online posts, as with imitating the concept.”
Western marketing experts stated that using memes as a form of promoting something, or “memetic marketing,” is efficient and cost-effective since it is mostly free of charge and is widely accepted especially by the current generation.