Cyber Week Sale! 50% Off All Access

Arab Youth Prefer Facebook As A Source Of Daily News: Arab Youth Survey Facebook has trumped television, print, and even the online medium when it comes to capturing the Arab youth's attention in consuming news, according to the ninth annual Arab Youth Survey brought out by ASDA'A Burson-Marsteller.

You're reading Entrepreneur Middle East, an international franchise of Entrepreneur Media.

Arab Youth Survey
Mohammed Alabbar, founder, Emaar Properties, Fadi Ghandour, founder, Aramex, Roy Haddad, director, WPP Mena, and other guests at the launch of Arab Youth Survey 2017.

Facebook has trumped television, print, and even the online medium when it comes to capturing the Arab youth's attention in consuming news, according to the ninth annual Arab Youth Survey brought out by ASDA'A Burson-Marsteller. "Among young Arabs, Facebook is the number one medium for daily news," declares one of the findings of the study, which holds the reputation of being one of the largest such surveys of its kind. 35% of the surveyed youth get their news on Facebook, 31% read news online, 30% rely on television, and an alarmingly low 9% get it from the newspapers, shows the study.

Further, compared to the 2015 and 2016 editions of the research, 2017 also shows an increase in the percentage of youth who mainly use Facebook to "share interesting news articles." In terms of frequency of usage and popularity among the region's youth, Facebook and WhatsApp have surpassed Twitter, YouTube, Instagram and Snapchat by a large margin. Not surprisingly, Instagram has shown the strongest surge in the past one year growing by 20 percentage points.

Image credit: Arab Youth Survey 2017.
Among other key findings of the survey, what stands out is the fact that nearly half the Arab youth opined that the current education system falls short of preparing the student community for jobs of the future. Similarly, it's also interesting to note that the UAE has emerged as a destination of choice for the region's youth, as most young Arabs said they would like to live in, and like their own countries to take after the UAE.

Conducted by global polling firm PSB Research in the form of face-to-face interviews with 3500 Arabs (male and female) in the age group of 18-24, the survey aims to "present evidence-based insights into the attitudes of Arab youth" in 16 countries in the MENA region. The study covers six GCC states (Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE), North Africa (Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, and Tunisia) the Levant (Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon and the Palestinian Territories) and Yemen.

Related: The Arab World Has Seen More Accelerator Programs Launch In Recent Years Than Ever Before

Leadership

How to Master the Art of Delegation — Lessons From Andrew Carnegie's Legacy

Here's what Andrew Carnegie can teach today's entrepreneurs about leadership, teamwork and effective delegation.

Side Hustle

'I Just Hustled': She Earned More Than $300,000 Wrapping Gifts Last Year — and It All Started With a Side Hustle

When Michelle Hensley lost her husband to cancer, she needed to figure out how to earn an income for her family.

Thought Leaders

This 15-Year-Old Founder Is Raking in Six Figures With Her Booming Babysitting Business

Nannies by Noa has posted reported revenues of $375,000 after being founded three years ago by Manhattan-born tween Noa Mintz.

Entrepreneurs

Dubai-Based HaiyaTea Is On A Mission To Become The Ultimate Tea Lover's Delight

A certified tea sommelier, Tarik launched HaiyaTea with the aim to bring high quality, thoughtfully sourced loose-leaf teas to Dubai.

Finance

"We Got Funded!" KSA-Based Lean Technologies' US$67.5 Million Series B Round Marks Silicon Valley-based General Catalyst's Debut Investment in the Kingdom

"By expanding access to financial data and offering seamless payment solutions, we're fostering a more inclusive financial landscape across the region."

Finance

The UAE's Crypto Powerhouse: Munaf Ali, Co-Founder And Group Managing Director, Phoenix Group

As his enterprise heads toward an initial public offering on the Abu Dhabi Stock Exchange, the UAE-based entrepreneur reveals what it takes to become an industry leader.