Everyone’s talking about Facebook ... even in Arabia

I don’t need to tell you about the Facebook revolution. But, maybe we can delve into some interesting statistics regarding Facebook users and then we’ll touch on the topics of privacy and Facebook being blocked in ‘certain countries’.

The well-known technology blog, TechCrunch (www.techcrunch.com) published a table of facts about Facebook members in 32 countries - Last week I found it, and it seems the page has now been 'retired' - sorry no link!

Anyway, over all, 63% of Facebook users are women, while only 36% are men!

Even in the digital world, ladies are more interested in connecting with friends and family, they are more likely to stay in touch and to check in on those they care for. It seems harsh, but men are just different. This is not a sexist statement, look at the evidence!

Arab countries featured include UAE, Saudi Arabia, Lebanon and Egypt. Regrettably, the study does not include numbers from Jordan, but neighboring Arab countries could be indicative.

Onto the UAE, the Arabic country with the highest Internet penetration, there are 196,880 Facebook users of which 75,000 are males and 121,000 are females.

In Egypt, the country with the highest population in the region but relatively low Internet penetration, there are 396,000 Facebook users of which 147,000 are males and 249,000 are females.

In Lebanon, a middle-ground country in penetration and population, there are 169,000 Facebook users of which 59,000 are males and 110,000 are females.
And Saudi Arabia, the number in total is quite low for such a large and relatively wealthy country. There are only 120,000 Facebook users of which 47,000 are males and 73,000 are females. So, you see, even in Saudi Arabia the impact of woman on Facebook is clear - I’ll be getting some comments about this statement!

So, for all Arab countries, the percentages of male users are in the 30s and females are in the 60s, which fits the global profile. Jordan is probably the same.
Onto why numbers of Facebook users may be low in some Arab countries, like Saudi Arabia.

Apart from social conservatism, there’s the matter of site blocks that are somewhat erratic. Authorities may, at any time, decide that Facebook is being used by social or political groups to promote unacceptable ideas or controversial causes; and accordingly block it.

Just look at what happened in Syria this month, where authorities blocked Facebook for now apparent reason leaving tens of thousands of users stranded without their Facebook buddies!

Why can’t everyone just understand that no one can, and no one will, stop the Internet from carrying ideas to people. A famous Arab cinema director, whose movies are usually censored or banned, once said that “ideas have wings that fly though any barriers to reach the people.” The Internet epitomizes this, as does the mobile content channel and other new age avenues of information.

So, maybe it’s the best of times and the worst of times to be a Facebook user in ‘Arabia’. However, you are guaranteed an interesting journey!

zanasser@gmail.com

Books: Last bastion of print in the digital age to fall soon

Books seem to have survived the digital revolution so far. They are the last bastion of print media to continue to be used by the majority of readers without a direct digital replacement- so far..

Attempts at electronic books reading devices- which are basically digital pads with long battery life- have been around for some time, but readers have not taken to them. It has to be said that none of these devices has been quite impressive enough to become a viable alternative and the parallel development required is for eBook sales to take off too.

But, first let’s talk about the unique experience of holding a book and what benefits must be replicated in a device.

It is generally agreed that the main issue has got to be clarity of text and comfort to the eye (no screen glimmer). Next in importance is light weight, intuitive ‘page-flipping’ technology and very long battery life (at least as long as it takes to read a whole book). Imagine one charge - one book; difficult but maybe possible.

So, what are the devices out there now that promise some of these lofty benefits?

The best looking device at the moment has just been created by Amazon.com, which is interesting when you consider that they are the top bookstore on the Internet. But, it seems they now have a vision to completely undercut every offline store, by ensuring that eBooks make a bigger impact, and therefore readers will be downloading their books from Amazon instead of visiting Barnes & Noble, Borders or Virgin Megastore to buy them!

The Kindle which sells for $399 has just been released in the United States, and you can buy the top selling books as downloads at $9.99 each, and older titles for various prices lower than that, and you can even download blog feeds for around 99 cents.

It looks good, comes in a folder-like wallet that feels like a book cover, and as you expect it offers additional features like web browsing and audio capabilities. Show me a book that can do that!

The CEO of Amazon, Jeff Bezos says that “books are an already handy thing”, referring to the already nice portability of paper books. That’s why even he admits that “it will take time for people to adopt this product.” But he believes it will happen, simply because people will want to the convenience and ease of downloading attractively-priced ebooks, and therefore will need the device to do that.

It feels like how the iPod revolutionized the music industry. I wonder why Mr. Gadget of the 31st century so far, Steve Jobs - creator of the iPod- isn’t working on a ebook reader by Apple.

But, it looks like the Kindle is the start of this wave of competent devices, and there will be many more.

Would you dump paper books for one of these any time soon? At first thought, your answer may be no.

But try to remember how you felt about the digital camera and the MP3 player when they were first launched. Now tell me that you don’t own either of these devices!

An ebook reading devices will join them one day. It’s just a matter of time.

zanasser@gmail.com