The sixth edition of the ‘Arab Social Media Report,' issued by Dubai-based Mohammed Bin Rashid School of Government, said that nearly half the population of Lebanon, 45.9 percent, uses Facebook.

The Arab Social Media Report series explores the penetration trends of social networking services in the Arab region, growth rates, demographic and gender breakdown, among other indicators.

The report said that the country is ranked fifth in the region for Facebook usage.  It is preceded by Qatar (60.9 percent of Facebook penetration), the UAE (58 percent), Kuwait (48.3), and Jordan (47.9 percent).

According to the report, Lebanon is the most gender balanced of the Arab countries, with 44 percent of FB enthusiasts being females. Sixty percent of the users are 15-29 years old.

When it comes to posting in Arabic, Yemen topped the list with 91 percent of its Facebook users using Arabic as posting language. Lebanon was ranked among the lowest in the region, with only 32 percent posting in Arabic. As for posting in English, Somalia was the first country with 98 percent. Seventy eight percent of the Lebanese users post in English.

Lebanon was ranked sixth when it comes to the active Twitter users, with 178,000 users. It was preceded by KSA, Egypt, UAE, Kuwait, and Iraq.

For LinkedIn, Lebanon is in the fifth place (7.81 percent penetration), preceded by UAE (23 percent), Qatar (18 percent), Bahrain (12 percent), and Kuwait (10 percent). Contrary to Facebook, 73 percent of local LinkedIn users are above 35 years old.