An Arab Assessment of Social Media’s Socio-Cultural Impacts: Analysis of the 2022 Arab Opinion Index Results

Abstract

The article analyses public opinion trends in the Arab region regarding the socio-cultural impacts of social media, based on the results of the eighth survey of the Arab Index conducted by the Arab Center for Research and Policy Studies in 14 Arab countries in 2022. The paper showcases that more than two-thirds of Arab respondents consider social media possessing a positive societal and cultural impact to varying degrees, with a higher-percentage among respondents in the Nile Valley and the Levant compared to the more skeptical Maghreb and the moderately positioned Arabian Gulf. However, this does not mean that negative effects are absent, as respondents' answers reveal what may seem like a complex contradiction, combining an emphasis on the importance of these platforms in various aspects with an acknowledgment of their negative impacts as well.