Social media use among UAE college students one year after the Arab Spring

In this study, we explore the ways in which young adults in the United Arab Emirates use communication technologies – especially social media – at a time of rapid change in the Arab world. Because young adults represent a large segment of the population within the Middle East and also lead in technology adoption in this region, this group plays an important role in how meanings are assigned to these new technologies. To better understand this group’s uses of and attitudes about new communication technologies one year after the Arab Spring, we asked undergraduates at four UAE universities to complete an online survey; results from the nearly 200 completed surveys are reported here. Findings not only aid in understanding how this group uses these technologies, but also help reveal the meaning-making process through which such technologies have been integrated into daily life in this region.