One third of Lebanon is on Facebook: report

Fourth highest penetration rate
on Facebook, fifth highest on LinkedIn

Thirty-three percent of the Lebanese population are Facebook users, the fourth highest penetration rate among the Arab countries, according to the findings of a survey published in July by the Dubai School of Government. The UAE, Kuwait, and Jordan had the top three penetration rates at 40, 34.3, and 34.1 percent respectively.

According to the Arab Social Media Report, 36,500 new facebook users were reported in the first six months of the year, reaching 1.4 million users in total. The majority of users are between 15 and 29 years old. The total number of Facebook users in the Arab world stood at 45 million at end June.

Lebanon also had the fifth highest LinkedIn penetration rate, of 4.3 percent. The UAE had the highest rate at 12.8 percent. The majority of LinkedIn users are between 18 and 34 years old.
According to the report, Lebanon is the most gender-balanced Arab country in terms of Facebook and LinkedIn usage. Females represent 45 and 43 percent of Facebook and LinkedIn users respectively.

With 77,700 Twitter users, Lebanon has the sixth highest penetration rate at 1.8 percent. Most Arab countries have a Twitter penetration below one percent, while Kuwait has the highest penetration rate at 12.8 percent. Lebanon also had the fifth highest number of Twitter users, just behind Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Egypt, and the UAE. Lebanon was the second non-GCC country, after Egypt, to make its way into the top five, outdoing Bahrain by some 5,000 users.

Reported by Hanadi Chami