By Layan Damanhouri
The hashtag #Selfie in Arabic for the popular Saudi show on MBC has been trending almost every night since the beginning of Ramadan. TV programs and series are among the top trending topics in the region, according to Kinda Ibrahim, Twitter’s director of media partnerships for the MENA region.
“In Ramadan, we see more engagement and conversation on the platform,” she told Saudi Gazette in an interview. “Twitter reflects what people talk about and the culture during Ramadan. Topics that are popular during the holy month are related to duaa’s, TV series, food, family traditions.”
This year, Twitter decided to launch three emoji’s related to the Ramadan theme instead of one.
Another new feature is the @FilFan chat bot to help people keep up with series and TV programs.
News about Twitter this month:
· Peak hours during Ramadan are after iftar until late night
· During this month, 3 new emojis have been introduced:
o A crescent and mosque representing #Ramadan
o #Ramadan_Lantern
o Date representing #Iftar_Ramadan
o Watch for the Eid emoji coming soon!
· On Periscope, people can use the hashtag #Ramadan on the title of the broadcast this #Ramadan and when their viewers tap the screen, the hearts will transform into crescent moons.
· Saudis are the number one Twitter users in the world, a large number of them are youth
· Trending topics during Ramadan are religious prayers, food, TV shows and sharing about family life. Last year, 7 million tweets were about TV shows during Ramadan last year with 2.5 million tweets about the MBC show ‘Selfie’
· Twitter’s chat bot is first Ramadan TV guide bot where viewers can send a Direct Message to the Arabic entertainment news portal @FilFan that will automatically display a variety of categories to choose from such as ‘Channels’, ‘Series’, ‘TV shows’ and ‘Now showing’. Once selected, viewers will automatically receive a message that will include a list of series, TV channels, timings as well as a daily recap of their favorite series based on their selection.
· 360 degrees videos have been popular lately. Twitter activated Ramadan themed live 360 videos by multiple broadcasters showcasing the spirit of Ramadan through an immersive experience. Whether watching the live videos or the replays, people can simply move their device or scroll their finger across the video Tweets to explore every angle of the location shared.
· Exclusive Q&A’s with celebrities and experts so that fans can get an opportunity to engage in a live video conversation on topics such as entertainment, culture, religion and health
