Facebook is one of the most widely used social media tools in Oman, a recently published report on GCC social media says.
It is enjoying a tremendous adoption rate and has become mainstream in the consumer space across Gulf countries, including Oman, with strong Internet penetration among youth, a report published by Kuwait Financial Centre, 'Markaz', said.
With around 480,000 Facebook and Twitter users in Oman, the report examines the trends in usage and penetration of Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter in the GCC countries. According to www.socialwatchlist.com, which monitors Facebook pages from across the Middle East and North Africa, Times of Oman is the only media house which figures in the top ten Facebook pages from Oman.
Leading the race is Oman Air with 548,918 likes, followed by Burger King with 305,425 likes and Nawras with 162,486 likes. Times of Oman is placed at ninth position with 60,485 likes.
The Markaz report highlights the growth drivers, opportunities and key challenges for the sector. It also explores the impact of social media on governance and business, and the current regulations that affect the use of social media.
Among GCC countries, Saudi Arabia and UAE are the frontrunners in social media adoption.
Currently, Facebook is the most widely used social media tool in the GCC, with more than 16 million users (April 2014) in the region. Twitter and LinkedIn also have significant user base in GCC, with around 3 million users for each of platform.
Business leaders in Oman are becoming more aware of social media marketing and are using these platforms to reach out to existing and potential customers.
Airline companies and hotel companies are turning to bloggers and Facebook pages as a route into the vast global market of social network users.
"We all know that travel blogs are becoming popular in Sultanate of Oman and is growing rapidly and travelers use these types of blogs to collect information and to learn about destinations. This trend is likely to grow into the future. So we organized a bloggers conference in Sri Lanka to show case their brand and Sri Lanka to travel bloggers and to use them promote Sri Lanka few months back," a senior airline official said.
Kishore, who has been using his Facebook page and blogging in Muscat for the last eight years said, "That a blog is more subjective. It's often a first-person account by the blogger from their own experience. Bloggers mostly post their blogs online before, during and after a trip which then remain on the Internet to be read time and again."
Then the hotels in Oman also rely heavily on the bloggers review. "Every review counts and with the use of smart phones, the bloggers review has become very important for tourism in Oman," said an official of Oman tourism.
Oman Air recently awarded German travel writers Adrian Pickshaus, Christian Haas, Linus Geschke and Peter Pfänder with first Oman Air Media Awards for outstanding articles on Oman. A special award went to blogger Yvonne Zagermann from Justtravelous.
The awards were given away at a special ceremony held at Oman Air's stand at ITB Berlin, Europe's largest travel show, and celebrating almost five years of Oman Air's non-stop services from Muscat to Munich and Frankfurt.
"With a very high mobile subscription and with Internet penetration increasing rapidly, access to social media is set to grow enormously," a cyber expert said.
Source: http://www.timesofoman.com/News/40705/Article-Facebook-top-social-site-in-Oman
