Social Media in the GCC Countries—Facilitator or Curse for Generation “Z”?

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to explore the directions of the social change in some of Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) member countries, by analyzing how traditional interactions between generations and pattern evolution are modeled by influences exercised through the use of internet, and in particular of social media. We will delve on the impact of internet technology and social media on (Arab) self, but also on human connectivity. Social media has a tremendous impact on how people share ideas and visions, but also on how they define and represent themselves and the social environment. Detached from traditional institutions, more members of Arab societies may be seduced by the illusion of an ever evolving and confident identity, a deception/dream generously offered by the social media. As such, the role of ruling political elites might be highly challenging, not only in ensuring the stability of their societies, but also in stimulating a solid societal identity in an increasingly unpredictable and complex international environment.

1 Introduction

If there is any cultural region on the face of the earth which possesses an articulate spirit, it is the Arab Peninsula and its natural extension from the Hadramawt to the Euphrates Valley. By an articulate spirit I mean the cultural entirety of the universal, comprehensive view of things which accumulates over the centuries, to control both visibly and invisibly the conduct and aspirations of the inhabitants.¹

With the advance of technology-mediated communication, and especially with new media, the role of online communication in shaping the public sphere, culture, and political decisions has become more visible and impossible to ignore. From political engagement to emotional expression, the roles of online communication have been carefully scrutinized in order to better understand how this phenomenon influences social life and politics.

The rapid transformation of the Arab world is ongoing and for any decision-maker, a proper understanding of the impact of online communication and virtual communities on real-life issues is essential. As the internet is a unique facilitator for self-expression, it is of special interest to understand how this web technology influences the “deeper structures” of Arab society. We are therefore fascinated by the potential impact of internet-based communication on the beliefs system that composes the bedrock of any culture.

Less visible than other constituents of culture, social beliefs are associated, mainly in the psychodynamic literature, with the social unconscious, the realm of the unconscious motives that drive groups or communities. As we give credit mostly to the cognitive dimension of information space, with this paper we will delve into the impact of various expressions of modernity on the Arab social unconscious. More accurately, we will try to examine whether its social binding function has been irreversibly altered by online communications, whether the “Z” generation² is more vulnerable to this phenomenon.

Although, specialists support the hypothesis that the Middle Eastern societies were among the first in the world to undertake the shift from pre-urban to partially urban, citing evidence found in the earliest centers of urban civilization such as Nineveh, Uruk, Lagash, Ur, or Eridu in present-day Iraq,³ or Dilmun civilization in the Persian Gulf⁴ region, there are other researchers who mention that in the years when the West was experiencing the hippie movement/subculture, many citizens of the Gulf area, were still living in the desert and had little contact with the outside world.⁵ Furthermore, the idea that only with two oil booms from 1973 to 1975, and 1979 to 1980,⁶ lifestyle in the Gulf region began to change is stressed; starting with living in modern homes and receiving financial support from the state, widespread access to radio and television, as well as foreign films have subjected these populations to “new ideas and ways of life, especially in terms of gender roles, sexuality and family relationships”,⁷ a process which is still ongoing today, but one accelerated by what we now generally call social media. Moreover, literature mentions that the widespread of different forms of communication, fast urbanization, literacy, and other sources of change that have begun in the Gulf region during the second part of the twentieth century, has disrupted the rhythms of daily life and social hierarchies in a traditional society.

As we observe during the current COVID-19 pandemic, online communication, the social networks enable the instantiation of online communities, virtual “tribes” with different, often opposing views, beliefs, and values. For decision-makers, these digital rifts are potential massagers of future evolutions within their societies as they express societal inequalities along older dividing lines, as gender, race, ethnicity, or age. Today, at the beginning of the twenty-first century, when social networks have become the main channel of information for the “Z” generation, we wonder, not rhetorically, what would have Hobsbawm added to the above statement, especially related to potential effects produced at society level in the Gulf, taking into account particularities of the riparian states’ societies, and strategical relevance of this gulf for the great and regional powers? Keeping in mind the above question, main objective of the paper is to identify potential effects on Gulf societies, resulting from the influence exerted by the development of technology/internet in general and social media in particular on Generation Z, and implicitly on the society taking into account a tendency of this space to copy certain behavioral models from the West.

2 The Persian Gulf—A Gulf of the World?

The Persian Gulf, often mentioned in Western and Arab literature as the Arab Gulf, or the Gulf, is an important transport route since ancient times and, therefore, a name and a region contested by Arabs, Persians, Turks, Portuguese, British, and in the contemporary era by Americans, who competed in the more or less conventional fight for control of the waters from this gulf. Before oil and gas resources were discovered at the beginning of twentieth century, people in the area earned their living from fishing, pearl trading, commerce, and even piracy,⁸ as the Nations Online Project further mentions.⁹ Industrial production of oil in the Persian Gulf region began around mid-twentieth century, while today, in the riparian states of the Gulf region a significant percentage of the world’s oil reserves can be found, along with relevant/consistent production capacity, as well as two states from top three worldwide in terms of global gas reserves.¹⁰

2.1 Gulf’s Historical Societies

The inhabitants of the Gulf area, are called Khalijis^11,12 a name derived from the term Gulf (Khalij), historically the descendants of Ichthyophagi—“fish-eaters”,¹³ located geographically in the northwestern part of the Indian Ocean, including the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf, southern Iran and India, as described by Greek and Latin writers.¹⁴ Due to the proximity of water, they had a similar lifestyle, but not a common identity, except for a few moments in different historical periods, when both sides of the Gulf had had the same leader.

For thousands of years, the Gulf area has been a region characterized by the constant exchange of people, trade and religious movements, and until the discovery of oil, the peoples of the region shared a maritime culture based mainly on pearls, fishing, and long-distance trade. Therefore, it can be asserted that the Persian Gulf has always been a distinct region compared to other forms of political or administrative organization in West Asian area, precisely due to connections to historical harbors that were relevant to the naval powers of the time and access to the Indian Ocean.¹⁵ In terms of local populations in the Gulf area, a social mix of several ethnic groups, such as Arabs, Persians, Indians, Baluchis, Africans, and other smaller ethnic groups can be found.¹⁶

In the Gulf countries, predominant Islamic culture, known as conservative has long had separate social practices for men and women.¹⁷ As the region modernized, women gained many rights and privileges, including the right to hold political office, which once belonged exclusively to men. In terms of societal structure, tribal relations have long played an important role in the region, today as well, since the tribe is important in political decisions.¹⁸ Political participation in the area, although relatively limited, has increased to some extent, but it cannot be compared to that in the West. From the Gulf States referenced above, present research will focus mainly on Qatar, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates societies—due to the fact that they have distinct histories, but at the same time share many fundamental geographical, political, and societal similarities¹⁹—and less on Saudi Arabia and Oman.

2.1.1 Bahrain

Also known as the “Pearl of the Persian Gulf”, Bahrain is the smallest and most densely populated Arab state from GCC, with a land area of only 670 km², consisting of a group of islands halfway along the western edge of the Persian Gulf. However, Bahrain, with its 1,505,003²⁰ inhabitants, has a population density almost unique in the world, transforming it into one of the busiest countries on Earth.²¹ The term “Bahrain” in Arabic means “two seas” and refers to some of the smaller bodies of water that surround the country’s 33 islands, not all of them inhabited.²² There is historical evidence on human traces dating back approximatively 50,000 years, and artifacts that are indicating that agriculture has been practiced in Bahrain since 8000 Before Common Era (BCE).²³ Closer to our era a few thousand years later, in the third millennium BCE, this archipelago became together with present-day Kuwait, and Eastern Saudi Arabia, the region of Dilmun²⁴ civilization during the Bronze Age, with its power based on a rich and strong trading empire, that lasted about 2000 years. It seems that Dilmun’s culture and the economy prospered due to the strategic geographical location situated along important trade routes that connected the Mesopotamian civilization with the Indus Valley.²⁵ For centuries, pearl mining has been the main occupation and source of income in Bahrain. In fact, pearl divers have been searching for and collecting these gemstones for at least 5000 years, an occupation mentioned even in the Epic of Gilgamesh, as Gillespie underlined in her book about Bahrain.²⁶ This smallest state from GCC had been ruled by the Al-Khalifa Sunni family since 1783 when it concluded a series of treaties with the United Kingdom in the nineteenth century that made Bahrain a British protectorate, from which it declared independence in 1971. Due to the fact that it has been forced to diversify its economy due to declining oil prices, Bahrain has focused on oil processing and refining, aluminum production, and the hospitality and retail sectors. Another direction was the development of banking sector, becoming a leading regional banking center, especially in terms of Islamic finance. Due to its geographical location and size, its economic dependence on Saudi Arabia and its proximity to Iran (with a predominantly Shiite population), this state has to pay a critical attention at stances in foreign affairs policies of its neighbors; therefore, its foreign policy activities cannot be much different than those of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. Considering this aspect, it was not quite a surprise at diplomatic level, that on September 15, 2020, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates signed together a peace agreement with Israel—mediated by the US—in Washington, DC, an agreement that has a strong symbolistic meaning for the People of the Book, respectively the Abraham²⁷ Accords, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates representing the two (next) countries of the Middle East, that together with Egypt and Jordan, officially recognize Israel.

2.1.2 Qatar

The leaders of this tiny country from the Persian Gulf, a peninsula in itself as a geographical feature, are part of the Al Thani family, who led this state since the mid-nineteenth century.²⁸ Looking back at the history of Qatar, at its developments, it is difficult to talk about where it stands today as a state-actor at the international level, without associating its evolution with the ruling family Al Thani, beginning with the moment when the first Sheikh Mohammed Bin Thani “united the Qatari tribes and the country in a difficult stage”²⁹ and with September 12, 1868, when he signed an agreement with the representative of the British Empire, Col. Lewis Pelly, that was considered the first step for the international recognition of Qatar’s sovereignty under the leadership of the Al Thani family. That was the moment when the first pages of history of a state that will go through tough times, such as the years of hunger during the 1930s,³⁰ on its path to an unique type of state on the stage of international relations at the beginning of the twenty-first century, that today amazes with its resilience in the face of challenges that few other states would have resisted.

The events known in MENA region as the Arab Spring did not affect Qatar, which had managed to resolve its long-standing border disputes with both Bahrain³¹ and Saudi Arabia, and when the region was engulfed in protests, it experienced no unrest or domestic violence, or violence due in part to its immense wealth and patronage networks.³² Qatar’s leadership has demonstrated a cautious commitment to its own populations, creating a more politically open society and has given priority to developing educational infrastructure.³³ Thus, on the outskirts of the Qatari capital, the Education City educational complex resides, with branches of several prestigious American universities, i.e., Georgetown University. Also, worth mentioning is the establishment of the world famous Al Jazeera satellite television network, founded in 1996, in addition to Qatar’s involvement in grandiose sports projects and events. The current Amir Tamim bin Hamad enjoys a strong popularity among the Qataris due to his role in leading the country starting with 2013 and gaining an almost mystical aura³⁴ due to flexibility³⁵ he has shown starting with the very first day of the blockade, for his efforts to improve the country’s health and education systems and for expanding the country’s infrastructure in anticipation of hosting the 2022 Football World Cup. In 2020, despite the health crisis that hit this tiny country as well, and as a result of Qatar’s economy shrinking 6.1% in Q2 (of 2020)—worst in eight years, according to Al Jazeera,³⁶ this state’s population seems to be more united than ever, from the outside.

2.1.3 United Arab Emirates

It would be incomplete to write about the modern history of the United Arab Emirates and not to mention the Trucial States. Before the signing of the first annual maritime armistice in 1820, between British Representatives and the Arab sheikhs from the Persian Gulf, the land where the latter were living, was referred to by the British as the “Pirate Coast”.³⁷ Later, they were gradually called “Trucial Oman”, in fact, an entity other than the Sultanate of Oman, while their leaders were known as “trucial sheikhs”. Of these, “Abu Dhabi and Dubai were the ones that received the most interest, due to the wealth of oil resources and, respectively, for the potential of ‘regional storage’”, according to T. Bradshaw.³⁸ Through the treaties concluded between the British official Representatives on the one hand, and these entities from the Gulf, on the other, their leaders were granted some degree of independence, but piracy was banned, while their sheikhs were forced to follow British advice when it came to foreign relations.³⁹ In 1928, the Trucial States were characterized as “independently administered tribal principalities, ruled by independent Arab sheikhs”,⁴⁰ and 8 years later, the special representative of the Eastern Department of the British Foreign Ministry stated: “Gulf states are a reserve of His Majesty’s government, whose policy toward them is based on a kind of Monroe Doctrine”.⁴¹ The relationship in the treaty ended in 1971 when these states gained full independence from the British Empire.

Relevant for what is happening today, from a political and security perspective in the Persian Gulf, is that one of the most significant British contributions to the Trucial States has been the development of their armed forces, police forces and a local intelligence capability. These forces were important because of the growing potential threat of subversion in the Trucial States that were no longer immune to regional trends. The gradual deployment of these forces has played an important role in maintaining internal security in the protected states. However, the extent of the internal security threat in the Trucial States has been limited, a fact that eased the role of national security and intelligence forces.⁴²

Following the independence, fundamental changes took place in the emirates, each of them pursuing its own path to development and economic security, but by far two of them stood out through a rapid development, namely Abu Dhabi and Dubai. If in the case of the first who under the leadership of Sheikh Zayed followed a prudent path to modernity, by carefully using its vast oil reserves, thus ensuring a stable and comfortable income for the citizens at least on medium term, Dubai was in a rather delicate position, given the fact that its oil reserves were only a small part of what Abu Dhabi had; by far, the most serious economic problems were faced by Sharjah in 1989 when it was rescued with Saudi aid from the financial and political crisis it had entered.⁴³ Only since the 1990s have the United Arab Emirates really begun to capture world’s attention, mainly due to “a spectacular series of new developments in Dubai initiated by Sheikh Mohammed, Sheikh Rashid’s third son and the driving force behind the emirate’s developments”,⁴⁴ including the Burj al Arab Hotel, Burj Khalifa, Emirates Airlines, the Emirates Palace Hotel, Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque, Saadiyat Island, just to name a few of the “miracles” performed in the UAE by its leaders.

As for the UAE’s economy today, according to specialists,⁴⁵ the GDP of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) is still growing, but the one per capita stagnates, and so far, the declining contribution of the oil sector has been offset by other sectors. The question arises as to whether or not this will work in the future due to the current stagnation in education, especially at the tertiary level and the high share of foreign workers which indicates that the UAE is currently a congested economy that risks becoming smaller if foreigners will move out. Therefore, the UAE  has to improve its investments and speed up development of education to enhance even more skills of students.⁴⁶ At the moment, the United Arab Emirates is struggling to survive the effects of the post-Dutch disease⁴⁷ at the beginning of a century in which many developments will probably remodel the entire globe.

2.2 The Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf

This entity, also known as the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), is a political and economic union established in 1981, consisting of six oil-exporting countries from the Persian Gulf (Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates), had at the beginning of this century a series of stated goals such as: customs union, common market, and common currency among others, encouraging cooperation between the Member States in key domains, especially the economy.⁴⁸ It is noteworthy that most of these states are all monarchies, respectively constitutional, federal, and absolute monarchies. And if this relationship of institutionalized cooperation between GCC member states had an existence of decades, their populations shared the common faith of Islam, an Arab, and a mix of Arab-Persian cultures, as well as of a hybrid culture for many centuries by now, as already has been mentioned previously.

Equally significant as long-term impact, the issue of identity should draw the attention of local leaders. The topic of identity in the Persian Gulf to be debated upon in academia, it is not exactly something new; i.e., few years ago, professor Abdulkhaleq Abdulla pointing out at the UAE’s society, underlined that “In terms of identity, Dubai is no longer what it was just a short time ago—Emirati, Gulf, Arab, Islamic or Middle Eastern. It has hurriedly become a global city that is intricately connected to the economic, financial, and commercial global network”.⁴⁹ Given that this description was made eight years ago, the question that naturally arises, when considering the importance of the internet today in the age of 5G and the Internet of Things, as well as that of the extensive use of social networks by several distinct generations in the region, is: how these technological advances shape the social structure and the interactions between members of various communities from the region? Of special interest for this paper are the nature and amplitude of changes induced by digital technology and social platforms on the identity of younger generations and what other effects might be produced by the widespread use of technology in Gulf societies. The focus is on a particular demographic segment (Generation Z), because it has the traits necessary to mark a point of discontinuity in the evolution of any society.

3 Modernization, Technology, and Social Media in the Gulf Region

The world is changing; and communication, as every time when tectonic changes took place, is one of the many fields of confrontation, where the battle for the agenda, meaning, and sense in the symbolic space, is fiercer than ever.⁵⁰

As history has shown, the evolution of each society is driven mainly by the impact of technology and the diffusion of ideas within the boundaries of respective societies. With the advent of satellite television and the Internet, communication technology has become the main facilitator for connecting minds and stories throughout the globe.

The role of technology in society dynamics is obvious, and through its daily impact, communication technology might create the perception of an unstable and unpredictable environment. As identity is largely dependent on the parameters of external world, both physical and social, it is obvious that the dependence on the virtual environment, which reflects the world in a splintered, fragmented mode, will affect the coherence and internal consistency of one’s self and identity. Multiplied at the level of whole society, this form of self, unbinded and unstable, should be of concern for every political regime. In the Western society, social media has become a common place for criticism against capitalism. Likewise, in Arab countries, social media could be not just an open forum for debate, but a platform where the status quo is questioned, and the compliance with identity axioms undermined.

On the path of technological progress, the appearance of internet came as a logical succession of semiconductors and computers. In less than 30 years, the internet impacted directly and indirectly many aspects of societies. Among the most prominent businesses that developed initially, besides the expansion of network infrastructure, were sales and marketing, media industry (news, audio and video productions), and the new business of search portals/engines. In terms of “socializing” online, the 1988 Internet Relay Chat (IRC) was followed by messenger programs like Yahoo Messenger or AOL Messenger that allowed exchange of text messages and files.

The mobile technology was combined with what is understood through internet, e.g., HTTP web pages, only later. In the last 10 years, businesses related to online have expanded in different directions: providing mobile internet, cloud-based computing services and data storage, social media, online gaming, geolocation and maps and associated services, streaming, advertising, retail, and others. Alphabet Inc, Amazon Inc, and Apple Inc are among the largest companies in the world, to name just a few.

Without any doubt, technology has always created the premises for the increasingly faster changes in society. But in last 20 years, the pace of these changes has become so high, that both decision-makers, responsible with the administration of different societies, and ordinary people has become more and more anxious about the outcome of these changes. As Paul Virilio⁵¹ has pointed out, the influence of technology and speed on society, but also in politics, is dramatic. By stripping out the time for reflection and balanced deliberation, speed was associated by aforementioned author with violence and with the danger of triggering unintended wars.

The phenomenon of modernization through technology is of special interest for Gulf countries. This is because if Western culture has a long tradition in technology innovation, in most Arab countries, at least in the last century, modernization is perceived as a Western, alien influence. In the introduction of History of the Middle East, Bernard Lewis draws attention to a very important aspect of the transformations that have taken place in depicting the behavior and attitude of the customer of a Middle Eastern cafe over several decades, which he compares with that of a European one. In this sense, Lewis said that there is not a significant difference between the transformation of the two customers over time, except for the origin of their transformations. If in the case of the European client, the transformations were considered almost exclusively of European origin—and to a certain extent from the North American society—therefore, from within the society, in the case of the Middle Eastern client, most changes had their roots outside this space, respectively from “societies and cultures deeply foreign to the indigenous traditions of the East”. Furthermore, the same author mentions that the transformation of the man from the oriental cafe illustrates the changes that have transformed the society of the Middle East and that this is best seen through the clothes he wears. Therefore, this observation and others have led Lewis to consider modernization almost a synonym to Westernization.

The online environment offered, besides the new digital market places that offer products and advertising, a space to practice what used to be called “socializing”. The early chat programs mentioned previously were superseded in the early 2000s by proper social platforms like Friendster, LinkedIn, and Hi5 (launched between 2002 and 2003). Facebook was launched in 2004 (was publicly accessible in 2006) and MySpace in 2006. In the same year, Twitter was also launched. The social networks mentioned above can be considered as part of the first wave in social media platforms that offered the possibility to exchange different categories of content in a relatively simple manner. Flicker, founded in 2004 and YouTube, founded in 2006, are also considered part of this wave, although the latter developed massively after Alphabet Inc purchased it. In China, the Sina Weibo and WeChat were launched in 2009 and 2011, respectively. A second wave of social media platforms were founded in the last decade. This includes Instagram (2010), Snapchat (2011), Tumblr (2007), among others. This was complemented by the development of instant messaging apps like WhatsApp (2009), Viber (2010), Telegram (2013), etc. The online communication industry was also developed toward professional sectors like web conferencing.

Social media was defined as interactive web 2.0 internet-based applications, which allow the creation and sharing of various contents (text, photos, videos) over the internet. Social media differs from traditional mass-media through its dialogic transmission system and multiple sources transmitting to multiple receivers. As in real life, virtual users tend to self-assimilate into social networks, the usual online behavior being either consumption or creation-contribution orientated, using personal computers, laptops, tablets, or smartphones. Facilitating interactivity, social media proved to have a tremendous impact both on individual human behavior, and on various aspects of human society. Moreover, besides their implicit role, e.g., to facilitate communication, the potential of social media platforms was relevant in major political events like the so-called 2011 Arab Spring and the 2016 US elections (although Cambridge Analytica filed for insolvency in 2018).

The term “social media” is generally associated with a nowadays, or more sophisticated/better, way to socialize, in the sense of becoming more active or recognized in a society. It is important to distinguish in this context between society, the system of interaction and social relationships, and community, a subsystem of society that unites people with a certain common characteristic like region, language, etc. The term “community” was especially used in the first phases of online activity, and created a sense of belonging to a set of values related to one or more goals: terms like “Linux Community” were commonsense decades ago. Whether social media is a replacement for socialization is not a certainty, but a rising question in recent years, despite undeniable indicators that confirm the expansion of virtual interaction. While telecommunication capabilities evolved significantly, the questions refer to more aspects of social media: does it extend social skills in the classical sense, in a complementary manner, or virtual interaction replaces at least partially the classical socialization? In an empirical formulation, how does a real gathering set up through social media looks like? Is there more interaction, or the people tend to check from time to time social media feeds? If yes, this means that they will not be active on social media during the gathering, so what is the most social activity in this case: the classical socialization or social media? If both, what are the differences between the two? At the moment, sociologists, anthropologists, and other related disciplines are expanding research on such topics.

Modernity is often portrayed in the Arab world as a process that undermines “all the old certainties”,⁵² and keeping in mind that mobile social media penetration in various regions has increased by 44%,⁵³ and half of Arab youth get their news on Facebook on a daily basis, making them more informed but also much easier to be manipulated, hence the social media cannot be perceived in a more positive way the Gulf leaders. Moreover, while many teens and young adults see a positive effect on using social media, mainly because they stay connected with family and friends, increasingly more time spent on mobile devices was associated with more anxiety and depression. What youth believe, how they live and think, how they perceive themselves and others, or how they interact has become more visible due to social media, and therefore, more susceptible to exposure, to be judged or rejected, fear of being isolated, bullied, or subject of rumors spreading as the most negative outcomes.

Another issue raised around the globe is that of rights, regulation, and censorship in social media. Traditionally, the “virtual space” was conceived and promoted as a free space, in an abstract sense, of course, similar to the concept of non-application of national laws on the territory of international airports, or application of national laws in an aircraft flying over another country. Among the most liberal expressions of this “freedom” was John Perry Barlow’s “A Declaration of the Independence of Cyberspace”, presented at Davos, Switzerland, in 1996.⁵⁴ The distinction between regulation and censorship can vary and lexical definitions play a major role: while Cambridge Dictionary defines “censorship” as “the policy of censoring”,⁵⁵ and provides a further definition for “censor” as “an official who examines films etc. and has the power to remove any of the contents which might offend people”,⁵⁶ an explanation for “censorship” on Oxford Reference includes already the term “regulated”: “Any regime or context in which the content of what is publicly expressed, exhibited, published, broadcast, or otherwise distributed is regulated or in which the circulation of information is controlled…”.⁵⁷ In these particular English definitions, that carry an official sense, two important aspects are mentioned: censorship involves an “official” and content to which it applies is “publicly expressed”. In the USA, “official” or state censorship is limited by the first constitutional amendment, while private censorship is a distinctive, not regulated activity.⁵⁸ There are also implications related to the term “publicly”: it could refer to an action or statement made in the name of a community or with the purpose of reaching others. Depending on the view and interpretation, or even definition utilized, the control in social media can be treated as censorship or regulation. In this sense, regulation or regulation attempts in traditional democracies like the United Kingdom (but also France, Germany, and other countries) may be analyzed by some groups through the loop of censorship,⁵⁹ hence perspective is relevant. Anyway, the control of social media might generally be an interplay between the company offering services and the state where the user is residing, with different proportions of influence depending on the state. The debate on privacy versus transparency is likely to remain open.

The perspective on the Persian Gulf countries and social media is influenced by a series of elements that add up to the general debate on social media opportunities and issues. Firstly, all GCC countries are monarchies, with the UAE being a federation of monarchies. This adds a perceptional factor in analyzing events, besides the developments themselves. Secondly, the Arab and Muslim cultures were relatively separated from the Western powers until the twentieth century, hence differences in culture are a given fact. Finally, the Middle East as neighborhood is a tough environment in which strong decisions are made. With respect to social media experiences, symbols, and perception of these matters, the general atmosphere from the Middle East may have an impact. Social media interaction in the Persian Gulf has been analyzed in literature.^60,61,62 The conclusions relate both to factors that influence the interaction and effects that they produce. While some papers insist on cultural elements specific to the Persian Gulf, other focus on topics that may be relevant in other regions as well. In the context of global social media phenomenon however, the set of technical skills for utilizing social media platforms in the region is probably at a level similar to other regions. In terms of economic benefits, the US and Chinese companies that operate such large platforms are probably leading. The costs of companies that develop their marketing and/or services around such platforms depend on number of users to generate revenue, number of advertisers, etc. According to a STATISA report, a Facebook CPC (Cost per Click) in Q4 2017 was $2.09 in the Czech Republic, $0.97 in Bahrain, and $0.76 in Singapore.⁶³ From an economic perspective, social media users come third in this chain, without a clear economic benefit, after platform owners and advertising community.

4 Social Media, the Arab Self, and the Psychological Effects on Generation Z

One of the most relevant aspect in utilizing social media interaction may probably be the age and all factors associated to it. Literature often divides segments of population in function of age vis-à-vis experience with internet, social media platforms, etc.⁶⁴ Generation Z (born from 1997 onward) are considered “digital natives”. On one hand, this generation found itself indeed in an environment friendly to digital life. Computers evolved sufficient enough to allow an intuitive and simple operation, while the prices for hardware decreased significantly and became accessible on a large scale. At the same time, urbanization and industrialization increased around the globe, allowing the allocation of more time for experimentation with social media. In parallel, digitalization was adopted in different sectors of economy, not only in education, allowing further perfection of interaction. But the use of social media for Generation Z is not comparable to previous experiences with online communication tools of the 1990s. The former virtual expression of freedom in an unregulated environment, accessible only to certain groups is likely to remain singular in history with respect to online communication. To complicate things even further, this new generation is about to occupy the central position, as the most active and relevant segment of society, both as decision-makers and consumers. Generation Z (or iGen), is considered as a demographic cohort that succeeded Millennials, and precedes Generation Alpha. Although every region on the Globe has a Z generation, specific economic and social conditions influenced the psycho-social characteristics of this demographical cohort. However, what is shared among the members of this young generation is their savvy on digital technology and the intensive use of social media platforms, as they are defined as internet natives. It was chosen to focus on this demographic cohort as Gen Zers are perceived as having a different mindset, and more impact on different areas of social life and society than previous generations. These elements are enough to raise concerns on the social outcomes of the combination between the advancement of technology, internet, the social media, and Generation Z in the Gulf area.

Social media and generally online platforms can be considered a common environment nowadays, with an increasing number of written and unwritten rules, with many users and organizations that generate content, regulated or not by service providers or countries. The discussions around such platforms are not related anymore to idealistic goals, but direct benefits, efficiency, and so on. As the social networks are expanding and the type of interaction becomes more and more public, countries will probably enforce more regulations. As the impact of this development on traditional communities will increase, more studies are expected in the near future on this topic. Regional trends are expected to be a part and a reflection of the overall digitalization process that can be considered still at the beginning.

As it became rapidly obvious, internet-based technology tends to increasingly mediate human interactions and become present in virtually every activity, creating new fields of studies,⁶⁵ mainly focused on the transformation of human identity. Maybe the most obvious effect that social media has on individuals is identity revision. Detached from real-life presence, online networks offer potential ambiguity in terms of self-disclosure and other psychological variables.⁶⁶ Offering the possibility to choose one particular story that fits audience’s desired identity, social media creates the illusion of identity control, relying less on intersubjective peer interaction and more or digital environment. Facilitating self-expression, simultaneity, and image management, social media has facilitated mimicry, narcissism, anonymity, stimulating a culture of pretending. As such, social media enabled a transition from a bodily mediated self-authenticity, to a fake interpersonal engagement. On a more positive side, social media offers the possibility for self-expression, a virtual space where personal ambitions and dreams can be expressed and shared with others. If modernity can be defined, from a psychological point of view, as the pursuit of personal ideals, then social media may account as starting point where personal identity may gain recognition, consistency, and legitimacy as a quest for happiness and personal fulfillment. However, poverty, family, or tradition, often shape or even block such aspirations or individualistic visions of life, creating the premises for resent and fatalism.

On social level, from business sphere, to political governance or social networks’ dynamics, social media has become a power broker and a virtual frontier between freedom of access, intimacy, and authority control and regulation. Through its innate qualities, social media creates transparency and the premises for a rapid democratization on influencing capability and power. Giving a voice to virtually everyone, enhancing dialogue or raising the awareness on social issues, social media had embrittled the supremacy of government’s narrative, and has the potential to put under question traditional social practices and values. Social media offers now access to other models of societies, with different pattern of relations between men and women, children and parents, between young and old individuals. This openness along with the higher possibility of the citizens to participate to various forums, where alternative perspectives on social issues are expressed, have the potential to undermine, to some extent, a clan mentality. At individual level, social media provides access to different styles of life, more or less attractive, more or less permissive, creating the premises for an evolving tension between Western identity and narrative, Arab identities, especially during adolescence and first years of adult life. As such, we intend to explore how the self-definition of youth in the Persian Gulf could be modeled through the use of communication technology, especially through the interaction with social media ecosystem, and whether this transformation could be associated with a threat for social stability. In order to achieve this goal, we rely on cultural definition of self, a self which is characterized by complexity and contradictions, located in a culture defined fundamentally by a dynamic conflict between old and new, modernity and tradition. Therefore, it is of crucial importance to analyze the magnitude and the nature of changes induced by new media, having in mind the central role of honor and shame system in the Arab culture. These features have a fundamental role in shaping the structure of self and further evolution during the life for most of the individuals.

4.1 The Arab (Self) Identity

What does it mean to be an Arab in the Gulf region? Although at first glance, the answer might be easy, in reality, a potential answer requires a much more complex analysis. In addition to the fact that in this part of the world, there is a mosaic of ethnicities and religions—a fact mentioned already in this paper, to understand the Arab self from the shores of the Gulf, there is necessary to look back in history. This is because the Arabs themselves have debated the issue of Arab identity since pre-Islamic times, not just Western researchers who have largely stopped at negative conclusions about Arab culture and the (in)ability of some local leaders to govern.⁶⁷ Among the Arab researchers who have focused on the issue of “Arab identity”, we selected the Iraqi scientist Nissim Rejwan, who has compiled a collection of writings by both Arab and Western intellectuals who have tried to define what it means to be an Arab. Thus, in his book “Arabs in the Mirror: Images and Self-Images from Pre-Islamic to Modern Times”, he presents different perception on the “evolution” of the Arab identity beginning with pre-Islamic times, until the last decades of the twentieth century. To see how it evolved, or what factors influenced the Arab identity, N. Rejwan looks at the influence of Islam, the rise of nationalism, the Israel’s role in the Middle East conflict, and the so-called “cultural invasion” of the West, among other topics. Eventually, he concludes that despite the prominent Western stereotype that Arabs are incapable of self-reflection or self-government, the Arabs mirror a rich tradition of self-criticism and self-knowledge among themselves. Because, in order to understand what it stands for being an Arab, one has to know that Arabian Peninsula was the cradle of the Semitic peoples’ family who called themselves Babylonians, Assyrians, Phoenicians, Jews, and Arabs, that during the Jahiliyyah period words were a powerful weapon, poetry being considered the highest manifestation of the Arab culture.⁶⁸ It must also be taken into account that according to Abdul Rahman Ibn Khaldun, there are two fundamentally different environments in which the Arabs developed were the desert and the city,⁶⁹ thus reflecting a nomadic and a sedentary way of living in which core principles of life have been developed and perpetuated, such as asabiyyah, muruwwah, or sharaf. Moreover, the Arab is neither a racial nor a religious category; Arabs might be called a people who speak a language, because not all Arabs are Muslims and only a minority of Muslims are Arabs⁷⁰; therefore, a distinction must be made between the terms “Arab nation” and what is called “Arab culture”.⁷¹ Thus, the Arab nation comprises elements “that have not yet fully developed”, while the Arab culture consists of “concrete realities that have grown over the centuries and that time has only served to consolidate and strengthen”, while the main issue of the Arab peoples of today according to al-Husaini is that they “have not assimilated Arab culture and the Arab spirit or the immortal elements of Arab civilization”.⁷²

Besides, regarding the Arab (Muslim) self, according to Marwan Adeeb Dwairy, in collective societies the idea of independence has a different meaning in comparison with the one from the Western societies where the individual is raised to fulfill independent personality and self,⁷³ which is perceived as a form of selfishness and disobedience in the Arab East. There is also an example from the “other” side: in the Arab-Muslim world, the person is raised in the spirit of an emotional interconnectedness, with a strong sense of submission to cultural norms, loyal to the family, therefore in the society from which she/he is a part of, is considered a mature one, while in the West the same person would probably be diagnosed, with “dependent personality disorder”,⁷⁴ according to DSM-IV.

4.2 Self-Concept and Generation “Z”

Self-concept lays at the bottom of identity formation and evolution. Although this mental representation serves to monitor the permeability of the limits between individuals, it is recognized, especially in the studies of acculturation, that “self” is often not coherent, even more, that manifold identities serve adaptive aims. It is specifically this discontinuity in the individual development, that can be fueled by social media, creating the premises for more internal tension and insecurity. We consider that a pertinent analysis of any society and the social life within it should include the various complex mechanisms that serve individual identification.

According to the psychodynamic approach, the main psychological processes that support self-formation are introjection and identification during early childhood. Subsequently, in late adolescence/early adulthood, individuals develop a belief system which, by his mirrored, unreflected nature, can be considered “ideological”. We tend to consider that social media and internet could be a hazard in the early years of childhood, when the process of identification takes place, only if the caregivers spent too much time on virtual space and tend to ignore or give inappropriate response to children, endangering mainly children’s capacity to introject gender role behaviors and self-worth. In late childhood, social media might facilitate identifications within online individuals or models, mainly through real-life events and shared social concerns, and emotion expression. In a culture that valorizes direct connectivity and tends to preserve age and gender hierarchies, individuation and autonomy are often acquired through a series of self-identifications and life-long intimate relationships. With the advent of internet and social media platforms, the role of the (real) other, as a tangible and stable “place”⁷⁵ from where we are being observed, in the pursuit of our self-project, tends to become secondary and the capacity to adopt a realistic self-identity is endangered.

In line with the critical theory, Slavoj Žižek suggests in The Sublime Object of Ideology⁷⁶ that ideology, as a mechanism for identity formation, works not on the conscious level, but through subconscious mechanisms which crystalize and shape a specific perspective on the society and the world. Addressing the implicit level of thinking, ideology functions precisely because individuals are not able to detect how they are compelled to adopt specific values and behaviors. Although many envisage ideology as a political system of beliefs, Zizek’s perspective on ideology emphasizes its capacity to create “false consciousness”, when is embedded in public discourse. Therefore, it is of interest to acknowledge the role of social media as one of the main facilitators for the modeling of social representations.

Digital natives, i.e., Generation Z and Generation Alpha, will probably experience an increasingly simplified and regulated digital society worldwide, a trend which most likely will be pursued by countries from the Gulf area. At the moment, the regulation framework for social media around the globe is shared by the companies and states, with authorities like Australia’s eSafety Commissioner or Cyberspace Administration of China policing the internet. This applies to other aspects of life as well, like banking, relation with the state, shopping, etc. The regulation and enforcement development will probably continue, increasing the safety for users, but two aspects are under consideration from this perspective: the usual question whether developments are good or bad, which accompanies any change process, and how the real world and virtual space/automated machines relate to each other.

The latter question will not be approached in detail, since the rise in use of virtual space is obvious, fast, and ongoing, and companies will probably integrate it more pronounced in everyday life through technologies like driverless cars, augmented reality, and similar. From a user’s perspective, some activities will be simplified or even eliminated, which in a positive assessment will free up time and resources to perform more complex tasks, or operate safer. With respect to the former question, opinions on progress have always been divided. The tendency of older generations is to perceive it with more skepticism and less interest, while the younger generations are generally more open. Nevertheless, progress occurs continuously, in a way or another, the only question that remains is whether it develops in the “right direction” and with sufficient speed. Challenges shared by the entire Z and Alpha generations across the globe are various.

From a societal and economic perspective, concerns are raised about disruption of territorial systems (TS) and loss of related competitiveness. Furthermore, finance and access to technology, as well as interoperability, may raise issues related to efficiency and standardization of approaches in digitalization and social media. Countries and regional partnerships are only in the initial stages of approaching regulation, and approaches are particular, thus at least years before an attempt to even start a global discussion on regulation of social media.

From a human and societal perspective, social media and digitalization are bringing different advantages to different communities. The communities with a long tradition in designing and operating such platforms tend to develop faster and come up with new features that strengthen their position in the market. For example, WeChat’s success was noticed by Facebook’s founder, who also referenced its payment system in discussions about the proposed digital currency Libra. A sustained speed in this field does not only require many financial and human resources, but can also disrupt other related branches of activity. A study that assesses how many countries would have sufficient resources to offer such systems, or even supervise them properly in citizen’s interest, would be of further relevance to this topic, especially in the context of discussions on how access to market and revenues are taxed. At the beginnings of social media, concerns were also raised about productivity of employees at work place, across the board. But as the phenomenon developed, relations between employers and employees settled, in principle, such topics.

The legal framework, previously referenced in this paper, can also constitute a challenge. When considering the multiple behavioral changes brought by providing and utilizing social media, legal aspects are multiple. Current approaches address safety, security of the users and their state, copyright, false information, and probably in the near future taxation. Furthermore, the accountability for certain action on social media can be problematic: the perpetrator can be located in a country, service supplier in another country, and the victim in a third country. Additionally, the issues related to privacy concerns are relevant not only from a legal perspective, but from a procedural point of view as well: how are the concerns addressed by legal entities, and service providers? Cybersecurity risks are also not to be underestimated. Besides the cyberattacks, that became a common practice nowadays at personal and state level, the capacity of states to prevent cybercrime require ever more resources: faster computers, secure clouds, professional personnel, and continuous training and improvement.

5 Conclusions

As GCC countries are pondering economical options for a post-hydrocarbon era, correspondent social concern arises. GCC, as a regional society, is marked by distinctive ideas, beliefs, and technological influences. As population inherits very old traditions, old traditions, and newer traditions, an increasingly incompatibility between ideas and practices becomes evident. Nevertheless, enjoying the benefits from technology, countries like Qatar and the UAE, are topping in the hierarchies designed to indicate progress and quality of life. In these cases, tensions between tradition and progress appear to have been appeased in a unique and smart manner.

From a broader perspective, there are two main developments to consider when analyzing social media impact in the GCC region: the first one is about history of social media that is part of a larger history of digital revolution, developed initially in the West, in a cultural system in which technological progress might be seen as slower, but continuous. Focusing on the problematic aspects of “adopting” Western innovations might have become an outdated perspective, if one considers that China is not anymore in a learning, or adoption, phase in all fields, but pioneering new social media technologies like Byte Dance’s TikTok: when really understanding how technologies can help in improving societies and allocating resources to pursue a genuine progress path, history has shown that results matter. Some societies courageously adopted innovation as part of their culture and are not afraid anymore about losing their identity, as transformation outcomes are now part of their identity. The focus is shifted in this case from preventing progress to adapting progress to society’s traditions and needs, which is probably a more complex and difficult task, but also more rewarding.

The second broader aspect that deserves attention is that of differences between GCC’s Generation Z and rest of the world’s Generation Z. Gulf’s history and traditions are indeed particular, but youth across the world face particular and common challenges. After analyzing a series of studies and opinions on this topic, it is difficult to establish which challenges are more pronounced for GCC’s Generation Z: the particular ones, due to Gulf’s unique culture and history, and due to fast adoption of foreign social media products, or the general ones, that are faced by globe’s entire Generation Z. Other societies have also particular challenges to face due to political, social, economic, technological, and other types of transformation and ultimately, wise choices will always prevail. Furthermore, as literature points out, some issues related to digital transformation are more relevant when assessing the concept of “self”, not that of “social identity”.

Is social media a facilitator or a curse for Generation Z? Literature provides both negative and positive perspectives related to mass adoption of social media. There are, of course, challenges associated to this transformation, but probably in the right hands, social media will help the evolution toward an ultimately positive social impact. Is it possible to stop progress/is it desirable and achievable? Since progress is an ongoing process anyway, probably the desirable approach would be to assist and continuously asses it.

Does social media have the capacity to dislodge identities? Rather than weaken identities, social media might create new dimensions of identity and new skills for all Generation Z across the world, as any innovation from mankind’s history did, which in a good situation will complement core cultural traditions. The uninhibited expression, self-promotion, self-disclosure, and other online behaviors might represent real challenges for the country leadership, as some of these might contravene with traditional forms of interaction, creating both excitement and powerful form of rejection. It is therefore the responsibility of each society’s member to build, shape, or use such systems for social purposes, and probably their leader’s role to help turn threats into opportunities.

As a final note, it is important to start considering an assessment, or even a classification of the elements that contribute to Generation Z’s identity. In the broader context of international relations across the globe, in which the dichotomy between national/regional and global action is now questioned again, it is important to identify adequate parameters to measure whether social media has impacted the way in which individuals and groups exert power. Because if it did and successes were achieved, this certainly led to new “self” and “identity” elements, that will shape future alliances and goals.