The year 2016 had more than its usual mix of big and shocking news that had an impact across the globe. In the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, 2016 was another tough year but there were as many news of hope, and a positive 2017 as well. Consumers in the region engaged in their areas of passion and belief, and much of this was captured on Twitter.
Globally, 2016 was the year when CEO and Co-founder Jack Dorsey Tweeted in Arabic for the first time, making it his second ever most retweeted Tweet.
Some of the major markets had their own set of developments that will set the tone for the year ahead. The Arabian Marketer takes a closer look at the top moments in the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Egypt.
#ThisHappened In Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia saw a number of historic changes that set the country’s #السعودية on a different course with a promising future especially with the announcement of Vision 2030 #رؤية _السعودية_2030.
Similar to last year, Saudi Arabia remains a nation of TV and football fans, with Twitter traffic spiking during Abdul Latif Al Jameel League #دوري_عبداللطيف_جميل football matches. The volume of Tweets in Saudi Arabia during the top six games of the league has increased this year by over 66 percent.
Tweets related to Ramadan this year, with more than 37 million mainly from Saudi Arabia, were viewed more than 10.7 billion times globally. Ramadan was the month of TV in Saudi Arabia with #سيلفي (Selfie) and #الشريان (Al Sheryan) rating top among all anticipated series and hosts during the holy month. @mohammed_Abdu was one of the popular celebrities who joined Twitter for the first time during #Ramadan to connect with his fans and share updates about his events.
As for national celebrations, 3.1 million Tweets were sent in celebration of the 86th Saudi National holiday, which ranked the top 12th hashtag, and top second event in Saudi Arabia. (#اليوم_الوطني)
The top sports moments on Twitter that caused the largest spikes in KSA included the final game of the 2015-16 Saudi Crown Prince Cup (19 February), the 2016 Saudi Super Cup, the Saudi Arabia vs United Arab Emirates match scoring 3-0 for World Cup 2018 Qualifiers and 2015-16 Saudi Professional League.
The top trending hashtags in KSA were Tweet about goodness -غرد_بالخير#, Something nice in three letters – شي_حلو_من_3_احرف#, Account worth following – حساب_يستحق_المتابعه#, Give us a picture taken by you – عطنا_صوره_من_تصويرك# and What life has taught me – مما_علمتني_اياه_الحياه#.
Similar to last year, @KingSalmantook the top spot in KSA for the most Retweeted Tweet of the year, as he reached out to the nation regarding North Thunder. King Salman’s Tweet ranked in the top 100 global Retweets, in which he expressed his pride for taking part in North Thunder #رعد_الشمال.
Tweets from the Kingdom that saw a high number of Retweets include @KingSalman wishing the nation Eid Mubarak, @Khalid_BinTalal for the 18th question of his Ramadan competition that took place only on Twitter and engaged the Saudi audience and Mohammad Bin Nayef’s Tweet announcing the start of his personal account on Twitter to enhance the communication with all members of the society.
#ThisHappened In Egypt
Trending topics in Egypt this year ranged from rival matches between Al Ahly and Zamalek, to the Pokemon GO craze and Egyptian-favorite, Amr Diab (@amrdiab).
Among the hashtags that trended in Egypt in 2016, some in sports were #euro2016, #halamadrid, #rio2016, الاهلي# (Al Ahly) and الزمالك# (Al Zamalek). In entertainment, the top trends were #oscars, عمرو_دياب# (Amr Diab), #mbcthevoicekids,
#gameofthrones and #pokemongo.
In Egypt, the three single moments that caused the largest spikes in Egypt Twitter activity were:
● The confirmed announcement of EgyptAir#MS804 plane crash – 20th of May
● Al Ahly (@AlAhly) vs. Zamalek (ZSCOfficial) match in Borg Al Arab stadium – 9th of February
● Africa Draw for 2018 World Cup – 24th of June
Later in the year, the two rivals had a direct Twitter conversation (a.k.a. a skill competition) with one another, entertaining their respective fans:
Additionally, Egypt experienced a royal and presidential moment on the platform. When King Salman bin Abdulaziz was planning on visiting El Sisi in Egypt, the President sent out the following Tweet welcoming His Majesty:
King Salman then reaffirmed his respect for the President, Egyptians and their land:
In sports, Egypt’s favorite goal-keeper, Essam El-Hadary (@ElHadary), made the country’s football fans proud when he Tweeted about the country’s qualification to enter the World Cup following a historic win over Ghana:
#ThisHappened In The UAE
Meanwhile in the UAE, 2016 witnessed an only-on-Twitter moment at the World Government Summit @WorldGovSummit, when @HHShkMohd announced the largest restructure of the cabinet in the history of the UAE through a series of Tweets.
The top UAE events that created the biggest buzz on Twitter in 2016 included Ramadan, where the Tweets were viewed more than 10.7 billion times globally was the top Arabic hashtag #رمضان in the UAE. In addition, updates from the UAE’s ruling family and government initiatives continued to drive Twitter traffic among local Twitter users, with related hashtags consistently among the most popular in the country.
Some of the top trending topics in UAE included #euro2016, #rio2016, #halamadrid, دوري_الخليج_العربي# (UAE Arabian Gulf League) and العين_الجزيرة (Al Ain vs Al Jazeera) in sport. In culture, يوم_العلم# (Flag Day), يوم_زايد_للعمل_الإنساني# (Zayed Day for Humanitarian Work), عام_القراءة# (Year of Reading), السعادة# (Happiness) and شعر# (Poetry) topped the hashtag charts.
In 2016, the most Retweeted Tweet in the UAE was a Tweet by Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, when he announced the renaming of the iconic road in Dubai after King Salman, of KSA.
Throughout the year, various topics, events and moments were trending on Twitter, which highlights the diversity of the UAE. Some of these included World Government Summit @WorldGovSummit, Asia Cup Cricket Tournament, Global Women’s Forum @Womens_Forum, Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championship @DDFTennis and Dubai Tour @DubaiTour.
