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

About Us

| Our Clients

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.


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

Housing Corruption

Police Brutality

Salary

Political

Revolution

Corruption

Mubarak

Minister NDP

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 # حياتي_في_أثر_مصري and # . حياتي_في_أثر_سعودي

• 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 # أثر_ فى_حياتى Our problems lie in governments, not) :سعودى_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

Analyze Engage

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 @ [email protected] Tweet @ @FTarzi Visit our website www.social-eyez.com Read our blog www.blog.socialeyez.ae

https://twitter.com/Social_Eyez

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

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