1887
Volume 2014, Issue 1
  • ISSN: 2311-8148
  • EISSN:

Abstract

The objective of this paper is to describe and explain the extremely high usage of Twitter within the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. This topic relates strongly to the current transformations that Saudi society is undergoing, and helps to demonstrate the growing desire of the youth to express their opinions in the public sphere via social media. Although the government has attempted to censor Twitter and hold individual users accountable, in addition to legislation further criminalizing speech against the state, it has become clear that regulating the Twittersphere is incredibly difficult. Consequently, in recent years, the regime has taken a different approach and attempted to engage with the population via Twitter, creating accounts for ministries, high-profile princes, and other officials. While Twitter is commonly used to criticize the monarchy in Riyadh and explore taboo subjects, such as the right of women to drive, Saudis are also using it to defend conservative values and support the preservation of traditions. This forum is providing Saudis with access to lively and engaging debates in a way that was not previously possible.

Loading

Article metrics loading...

/content/journals/10.5339/messa.2014.6
2014-06-20
2024-03-29
Loading full text...

Full text loading...

/deliver/fulltext/messa/2014/1/messa.2014.6.html?itemId=/content/journals/10.5339/messa.2014.6&mimeType=html&fmt=ahah

References

  1. “Growing youth population in Saudi offers economic potential.”, Arab News. August 22, 2013. http://www.arabnews.com/news/462135 .
    [Google Scholar]
  2. “Saudi Arabia – Freedom in the World 2013.”, Freedom House. 2013. http://www.freedomhouse.org/ .
    [Google Scholar]
  3. “Saudi Arabia ‘may end’ Twitter Use Anonymity.”, Al Jazeera. March 31, 2013. http://www.aljazeera.com/ .
    [Google Scholar]
  4. “Saudi Billionaire Alwaleed Won't Sell Twitter Stake in IPO.”, The Telegraph. September 16, 2013. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/ .
    [Google Scholar]
  5. “Saudi Religious Police Boss Condemns Twitter Users.”, BBC. May 15, 2013. http://www.bbc.co.uk/ .
    [Google Scholar]
  6. “Social Media Crackdown: Saudi Arabia May Spy on Twitter Users.”, RT. March 30, 2013. http://rt.com/ .
    [Google Scholar]
  7. “The State of Social Media in Saudi Arabia 2012.”, Thesocialclinic. last modified January 6, 2013. http://www.thesocialclinic.com/ .
    [Google Scholar]
  8. “Top Saudi Cleric Says Twitter Is for Clowns.”, Al Jazeera. March 24, 2013. http://www.aljazeera.com/ .
    [Google Scholar]
  9. “Twitter Statistics in Saudi Arabia.”, Socialbakers. 2013. http://www.socialbakers.com/ .
    [Google Scholar]
  10. Al-Mukhtar Rima. Mall Harassment Generates Large Number of Tweets. Arab News. October 29, 2013. http://www.arabnews.com/news/469141 .
    [Google Scholar]
  11. Al-Shihri Abdullah, Bartway Aya. Saudi Protest Women Driving, Blame US. Associated Press. October 23, 2013. http://news.yahoo.com/ .
    [Google Scholar]
  12. Al-Tamimi Sultan. King Abdullah's Speech Represents Saudis on Twitter. Arab News. August 20, 2013. http://www.arabnews.com/news/461807 .
    [Google Scholar]
  13. Bird Kai. Crossing Mandelbaum Gate: Coming of Age between the Arabs and Israelis. New York: Scribner 2010.
    [Google Scholar]
  14. Carrington Daisy. Twitter Campaign highlights poverty in Saudi Arabia. CNN. September 6, 2013. http://www.cnn.com/ .
    [Google Scholar]
  15. Chappell Bill. Saudi Women Get Behind Wheel For ‘Drive-In’ Protest. National Public Radio. October 26, 2013. http://www.npr.org/ .
    [Google Scholar]
  16. Coleman Isobel. Youth, Change, and the Future of Saudi Arabia. Middle East Voices. March 19, 2013. http://middleeastvoices.voanews.com/ .
    [Google Scholar]
  17. Coogle Adam. Dispatches: Saudi Arabia Releases a Blogger, Convicts an Activist. Human Rights Watch. October 29, 2013. http://www.hrw.org/news/ .
    [Google Scholar]
  18. Friedman Thomas. The Other Arab Awakening. New York Times. November 30, 2013. http://www.nytimes.com/ .
    [Google Scholar]
  19. Gause Gregory F.. Kings For All Seasons: How the Middle East's Monarchies Survived the Arab Spring. Brookings Institution. November 8, 2013. http://www.brookings.edu/ .
    [Google Scholar]
  20. Gooch Liz, Goodman J. David. Malaysia Detains Saudi Over Twitter Posts on Prophet. New York Times. February 10, 2013. http://www.nytimes.com/ .
    [Google Scholar]
  21. Hamdan Sara. Saudi Arabia to Fine Firms With Too Many Foreign Workers. New York Times. November 21, 2012. http://www.nytimes.com/ .
    [Google Scholar]
  22. Haroutunian Mourad, Browning Jonathan. Twitter wins $300 Million Alwaleed Investment. Bloombery. December 19, 2011. http://www.bloomberg.com/ .
    [Google Scholar]
  23. Jamjoom Mohammed. Saudi Cleric Warns Driving Could Damage Women's Ovaries. CNN. September 29, 2013. http://www.cnn.com/ .
    [Google Scholar]
  24. Knickmeyer Ellen. Jailed Saudi Blogger Who Angered Conservatives Is Freed. Wall Street Journal. October 29, 2013. http://www.online.wsj.com/ .
    [Google Scholar]
  25. Murphy Caryle. A Kingdom's Future: Saudi Arabia Through The Eyes of its Twentysomethings. Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. 2013. http:/www.wilsoncenter.org/ .
    [Google Scholar]
  26. Murphy Caryle. Saudi Arabia's Youth and the Kingdom's Future. Middle East Program Occasional Paper Series – Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. 2011. 2:405. http://www.wilsoncenter.org/ .
    [Google Scholar]
  27. Nisman Daniel. Springtime in Saudi Cyberspace. New York Times. April 18, 2013. http://www.nytimes.com/ .
    [Google Scholar]
  28. Sullivan Kevin. In Saudi Arabia, Unemployment and Booming Population Drive Growing Poverty. The Washington Post. December 3, 2012. http://articles.washingtonpost.com/ .
    [Google Scholar]
  29. Worth Robert F.. Twitter Gives Saudi Arabia a Revolution of Its Own. New York Times. October 20, 2012. http://www.nytimes.com/ .
    [Google Scholar]
http://instance.metastore.ingenta.com/content/journals/10.5339/messa.2014.6
Loading

Supplements

Supplementary File 1

  • Article Type: Research Article
This is a required field
Please enter a valid email address
Approval was a Success
Invalid data
An Error Occurred
Approval was partially successful, following selected items could not be processed due to error