Bahraini women, youth outstandingly active on social media

Bahraini women need to showcase their achievements on the social media, as they are not being highlighted to the global online community. The Social Media Club- Bahrain Chapter founder and president, Ali Sabkar said on Tuesday that Bahraini women made great strides in several areas including sports, but they were never mentioned on the social media. “We need to highlight the achievements of Bahraini women on the social media,” he said as he addressed the Women and Social Media forum organized by the Supreme Council for Women’s (SCW) Youth Committee. The event was attended by scores of women, community leaders and public figures. “Bahrain has clearly revolutionised the way social media is used with 12 per cent of youth spending eight hours on social media, according to a study by Bahrain University," Mr Sabkar said. He said that in September last month 4 million pictures and 47,000 videos were uploaded on Facebook, and close to 75 million messages exchanged between users on the social media site. In Bahrain, there are about 514,000 Facebook users, 250,000 Twitter accounts, 150,000 LinkedIn profiles and not less than 100,000 Instagram users, he said. Saudi journalist and Al Arabiya TV presenter Turki Al Dakheel, another speaker at the event, highlighted the role of women in social media. “Women create their own identities despite facing difficulties and on social media, they should review their posts carefully after posting anything,” he said. He praised the forum’s organising committee for showcasing women’s achievements. The Chairman of the Youth and Sports Committee at the Representatives Council, Adnan Al Malki presented a working paper within the first theme concerned with the issue of women and social media, from the social point of view. SCW Youth Committee Head Mazen Anwar said that the two day event features a series of recommendations by the participants and talks on three main themes: women and social media, the electronic volunteering through social media, and investment in the area of social media.