Social Media In The Arab World

Social Media and Crisis

It is significant to say that social media use has been extensively studied during crisis communication in the USA and Western countries. However, little such research has been conducted in the Arab world. This study sought to bridge this gap in research and provide insights for organizations to use in managing crisis communication today. According to Boyd & Ellison (2007) using social media enable people to share and exchange information and communicate with other people. In a crisis situation, social media can provide the public with a variety of sources to retrieve any information they need from anywhere in the world. It also has the ability to spread and transform information to the affected publics in the fastest

In other words, the wealth of using social media in a crisis and its application is still limited in the Arab World. As Zamuom (2013) suggested “the latest protests, uprisings and revolutions in some Arab countries showed the weaknesses of plans, media and communication strategies and tactics dealing with the management of these crises” (p.47). Also, it was clear during these crises the majority of the Arab countries did not have clear plans and strategies to tackle the crisis and manage it efficiently and professionally (Zamoum, 2013). Thus, in the application of utilizing social media during a crisis situation in the Arab countries, it seems more sensible. The study is significant because companies need to understand the significant role that social media plays in crises situations. It also contributes to the scarce literature on the role of social media usage by public relations practitioners in the Arab World during crisis situations. Needless to say, despite growing interest in social media over the last few years all over the world, its application has been limited in the Arab World. Thus, the present study is designed to enhance the literature by investigating the usage of social media by public relations practitioners in crisis situations in the UAE. It is also the first study

To better understand and examine the use of social media by public relations practitioners during a crisis, an online survey of public relations practitioners (N=160) working in key UAE public relations departments in public and private organizations was conducted. Quantitative analysis was chosen for this study. The data was collected using a quantitative survey method. As for this study, the main focus was to examine how public relations practitioners inside organizations use social media in crisis and to what extent social media has been used during crises. It is necessary to say some the questions were obtained from different previous studies but revised to make them more proper for the current study. The Statistical Analysis System (SPSS) computer package was used to analyze the participants' responses. The research questions and how they were analyzed are discussed in the following