Trust the UAE to outshine in every field, whether it’s as serious and science-y as space travel or as frivolous and fun as social media. A new study has crowned our beloved UAE the world’s social media capital with an almost perfect score of 9.55/10.
Okay, but a quick look around us can prove how addicted to social media we are. We have free WiFi inside public transport, constantly Instagram eating out at restaurants and Google Maps navigation is a must for driving. So yes, this study gets no brownie points for telling us what we already know. But here’s where it spits some cool facts.
This research discovered that the UAE is home to more Facebook accounts than actual people living in the country. While it sounds like a dystopian nightmare of technology gone bonkers, don’t worry. We’re guessing it’s probably because of how transient the UAE’s expat population is.
Proxyrack, the company that conducted the study, also uncovered that every person in the UAE has an average of 8.2 social media platforms, placing us as the third highest in the world, with the Philippines.
Another number from this study that hammers home the UAE’s high digital presence is the average duration a person spends online every day – 7 hours and 29 minutes. And we’re still only 13th in the world when it comes to screen time! South Africa scoops #1 position there with an average screen time of 9 hours and 38 minutes daily. So, almost the duration of an entire workday. Let that sink in.
It also rated the UAE as the world’s most connected country with a score of 7.53 out of 10. Which means 7 people out of 10 have internet access in the country. When it comes to the quality of that internet connection, we still have room for improvement. The UAE ranks only 4th behind South Korea, Hong Kong and Denmark.
With how rampantly we use internet banking, mobile wallet payments, video-calling and online shopping in the UAE, it’s as clear as day that we’re a highly tech-savvy nation that loves having the world (and memes) at our fingertips.