Dominant Media Technology

 

 

While there exist many channels for technology interaction in Qatar, the dominant media technology is television. According to a study about Middle Eastern media by Northwestern University in Qatar, “Almost everyone in Qatar watches television. The large majority – three-quarters – say this is an important part of their entertainment, and seven in ten watch TV daily.” 31 This is not surprising, as Qatar is also known to be committed to sports; the bid for the 2022 FIFA World Cup is just one example. According to research report “An Examination of Levels of Fandom, Team Identification, Socialization Processes, and Fan Behaviors in Qatar”, “Lately, Qatar has earned a prominent reputation as a hub of various sports and has become renowned for organizing many of the world’s most exciting sport events in tennis, golf, handball, swimming, and boxing, to name just a few."32

 

I found it interesting that of all countries in the MENA region, Qatar and UAE are the only countries that are unlikely to watch entertainment content produced in their own country. Only 3 in every 10 people in Qatar are likely to watch Qatari entertainment 31. I think that this is largely due to the amount of foreigners living in Qatar, including a large portion of expats. I think that with the possibility of more expats being sent to Qatar in the current political climate, the dominant media technology of television is likely to stay the same.

 

Social media is also a pervasive component of Qatari society. According to the 2015 Arab Social Media Report, Facebook is the most-used social media platform, narrowly beating WhatsApp, a text and phone call app. 33 81% of the social media users in the comprehensive survey in Qatar had Facebook subscriptions, though only 39% of the nation’s population uses Facebook. 33 The video below from Icarus Sports emphasizes the importance Qataris place on sports.