For the first time in the age of social media, the world is witnessing a global pandemic, known as COVID-19. It is now without a doubt the highlight of most conversations on social media platforms in the MENA region. It is crucial to pay attention to what is being said about the widespread virus to be able to identify what is needed at this stage. People are constantly talking about it; this is not stopping anytime soon with the virus.

To analyse the situation on social media, we monitored and analysed over 10 million activities across the MENA region on different social media platforms. Observing that in the span of two weeks, coronavirus took the social media conversations by storm.

Derived from our data, we unfolded answers to the 5 key questions around the social media outbreak. In this article you’ll find, recommendations that would contribute to you playing a positive role to decrease the level of panic in the region.

1- Where Was the Buzz Coming From?

Egypt was one of the most active countries on social media concerning the corona virus issue. However, when it came to engagement, UAE led the top 3 social media activities list with 52% engagement followed by Palestine at 48% and Egypt with 46%

*Engagement rate is a metric that measures the weight of conversations that received at least one interaction

2-When Did the Virus Virally Spread On Social Media?

Activities on social media witnessed its highest peak after the World Health Organization announced that the coronavirus is a pandemic spreading worldwide. Governments started implementing restrictions, forcing lockdowns, and encouraging people to take safety precautions on all levels. People started turning to the internet and social media to gain a better understanding of what is going on and how to stay safe.

3-Which Platform Dominated the COVID Scene?

Based on the monitored period in the region, Facebook is considered the leading platform with a 77% activity rate; followed by online news articles and blogs at 12%. Other social media platforms such as Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube had a relatively lower activity.

4-Top 3 Pages for Capturing COVID Information

*based on received interactions

*Facebook analysis is based on monitored public pages during the first 2 weeks of March.

The most popular pages for both Facebook and Twitter are actually news pages. People are using social media as a means to seek trustworthy valuable information. They are looking for official pages and are trying to filter out any pages that would lead to fake news. This is a test to many businesses out there on what role are they going to play during the outbreak.

5-What were the Top Keywords Used on Social Media? 

So How Can You Play A Positive Role on Social Media?

In times like these, it is crucial to play an effective role, and take no advantage during the outbreak. Here are some content recommendations that business can rely on:

• Be transparent to build trust on your social media platforms.
• Help spread updates and recommendations from credible sources. Updates on Coronavirus prevention methods and official health organizations statements about the virus are some of the most trending topics among MENA users’ conversations on Corona.
• Reach audience through the relevant platforms. Facebook is by far the leading platform. So your best shot at reaching as many MENA users as you can is through Facebook; this is where your messages should be. Yet keeping in mind the relevancy of your audience.
• Assure your audience that their safety and wellbeing is your priority, communicate your pricing stability and services availability, as long as it is in compliance with safety recommendations.

We’re all in this together, and we are happy to support you and your teams with effective monitoring, listening and activations tools to help identify how the current situation is affecting your businesses.