Saudi Gazette report
DAWADMI, Riyadh – Smart phones, iPads, and social networking sites have changed the lifestyles of many families living in remote villages scattered all over the Kingdom. The routine mundane lifestyles in rural areas are transforming rapidly into more active and exciting ones. TV and radio are being replaced with the Internet. Hundreds of families have become interested in keeping up with the latest news all over the country through websites such as Twitter and Facebook.
Major transformation
Maqad Al-Maghiri, who lives in a remote village in the south, never fails to read news online on daily basis. He no longer watches the TV or listens to the radio.
“Many of my fellow tribesmen have Facebook and Twitter accounts. They read new tweets and react to them. They have friends on social media websites and they are active participants in anything related to public opinion,” Al-Maghiri said.
He used to have poor spelling but he can now write better thanks to the Internet. He looks at this change as a major transformation in the lives of rural families.
Shwaimi Al-Osaimi, citizen, said smartphones and social media websites have undoubtedly done a big favor for most villagers. Some use such sites to communicate with their family members in other villages while others send invitations over them and remind their relatives of weekly and monthly meetings. Others use them to advertise their homemade products.
“It is easier and faster to send news over the Internet to your family members and relatives,” Al-Osaimi said.
Double-edge sword
Dr. Saud Katib, information technology professor at King Abdulaziz University, believes that the increase in the use of social media websites among families who live in rural areas can be a double-edge sword. Teenagers, in particular, should be educated about the advantages and disadvantages of social media websites in order to benefit from them and avoid pitfalls, he said.
“Some teenagers might be exposed to information that violates their privacy or might fall prey to blackmailers,” Katib said. However, this does not alter the fact that such openness to the Internet in general has brought a lot of benefits to villagers. Now they can participate in online forums and Twitter and voice their opinion about the most important and contentious social issues, Katib believed.
Twitter as a forum of freedom of expression
Dr. Atif Naseef, acting dean of the telecommunications and information school at King Abdulaziz University, said Twitter has become a channel for people living in cities and villages alike through which they can voice their opinions freely.
“As you know, traditional media tools such as newspapers don’t offer the same area of freedom. Twitter isn’t controlled and everyone can say what they want,” Naseef said.
