TY - JOUR
T1 - Predictors of blogging activity in six Arab countries
AU - Martin, Justin D.
AU - Schoenbach, Klaus
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2016, © The Author(s) 2016.
PY - 2016/12/1
Y1 - 2016/12/1
N2 - This study examines predictors of blogging in six Arab countries in a secondary analysis of population surveys of, in total, 7,525 respondents in Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Lebanon, Bahrain, Jordan, and the United Arab Emirates in 2013. The surveys assessed a wide variety of Internet uses, news and information consumption, and also levels of political efficacy, media trust, and attitudes toward free speech, among other cultural and political indicators. Despite the oft-referenced supposition that blogging in the Arab world is associated with political disaffection, results here suggest that in the six countries investigated blogging is mainly connected to online engagement in general—such as sharing photos online, participating in online chats, and reading others’ blogs—rather than to sociopolitical indicators. In none of five of the six countries, for example, does a sense that one’s country was not ‘on the right track’ significantly predict blogging behavior. Also, distrust of mainstream news organizations only played a minimal role.
AB - This study examines predictors of blogging in six Arab countries in a secondary analysis of population surveys of, in total, 7,525 respondents in Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Lebanon, Bahrain, Jordan, and the United Arab Emirates in 2013. The surveys assessed a wide variety of Internet uses, news and information consumption, and also levels of political efficacy, media trust, and attitudes toward free speech, among other cultural and political indicators. Despite the oft-referenced supposition that blogging in the Arab world is associated with political disaffection, results here suggest that in the six countries investigated blogging is mainly connected to online engagement in general—such as sharing photos online, participating in online chats, and reading others’ blogs—rather than to sociopolitical indicators. In none of five of the six countries, for example, does a sense that one’s country was not ‘on the right track’ significantly predict blogging behavior. Also, distrust of mainstream news organizations only played a minimal role.
KW - Arab world
KW - Internet use
KW - Middle East
KW - blog
KW - online engagement
KW - survey
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85001943979&partnerID=8YFLogxK
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U2 - 10.1177/1748048516640484
DO - 10.1177/1748048516640484
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85001943979
SN - 1748-0485
VL - 78
SP - 733
EP - 754
JO - International Communication Gazette
JF - International Communication Gazette
IS - 8
ER -