Azlan Othman
Social media adoption in the Sultanate was the third highest globally in terms of population ratio, at 482,000 users, according to the latest Global State of Digital 2022 report update for July.
Published in a partnership between We Are Social and Hootsuite, the report showed continued growth in digital adoption and activity around the world.
Users from United Arab Emirates clinched top spot with 123.4 per cent or 11,650,000 and Qatar in second with 113.6 per cent of 3,061,200 users.
In addition, Instagram users in the Sultanate were the second highest globally in terms of population ratio for those aged 13 years and above with 82 per cent or 297,500 users.
Users from Bahrain clinched top spot with 82.35 per cent or 889,300 people.
Globally, the main reasons for using social media were to keep in touch with friends and families with 47.6 per cent, to fill time (36.3 per cent) and to read news stories (30.9 per cent).
Meanwhile, the most used social platform is Facebook with 3,936 million users, followed by Youtube with (2,476 million), WhatsApp (2,000 million) and Instagram (1,440 million).
Among females, the most popular was Instagram, used mostly by users aged 16 to 24 with 24 per cent; followed by WhatsApp with 21 per cent and popular among users aged 55 to 64; and Facebook with 17.9 per cent which is popular among those aged 55 to 64.
For males, WhatsApp is very popular with 22.5 per cent among those aged 55 to 64, followed by Instagram with 22 per cent amongst those aged 16 to 24, Facebook with 19.1 per cent amongst those aged 55 to 64.
The report stated that fresh updates on the United Nations’ population data reveal that there are 7.98 billion people living on Earth in July 2022, with that figure climbing by 66 million (+0.8 per cent) over the past year.
Global mobile users grew to 5.34 billion by the start of Q3 2022, with smartphones accounting for almost four in five of the mobile handsets in use today. The global mobile population has grown by 93 million since this time last year, with almost 67 per cent of the world’s total population now using some form of mobile phone.
Internet users have increased by 3.7 per cent over the past 12 months, reaching 5.03 billion in July 2022. Year-on-year growth of 178 million new users has pushed global Internet penetration up to 63.1 per cent.
Social media users grew by 227 million over the past year, reaching 4.70 billion by the start of July 2022. The global social media user base has increased by more than five per cent over the past 12 months, with the latest global total now equivalent to 59 per cent of the world’s total population.
