3. Discuss other countries where social media are having a radical effect on cultural expectations. Why is Arabic the fastest-growing language of all time on Twitter and Riyadh ranked #10 globally of the cities with the most tweets? What is behind such a rapid growth of this increasingly tech-savvy population?

As of December 2017, the number of Internet users in Saudi Arabia has reached 90.2% penetration.

With 18 million Facebook users (53.6% penetration), social media is becoming more widespread.2 Each day, more than 90 million videos are viewed on YouTube, more than 3 million people are on Twitter, and more than 840,000 are on LinkedIn, with email usage becoming passé. It is clear that not only do these platforms present important avenues for international businesses to communicate and engage with customers, but also that cultural and lifestyle factors are involved. Because 70 percent of the Saudi population is under 30 and most own smartphones, many are turning to Twitter and YouTube. In addition, social interaction is sometimes monitored and restricted by patrolling religious police. For some young people, then, Twitter represents an escape from social restrictions, especially for women. More recently, however, Twitter was used by Princess Reema bint Bandar to convey that amendments had been made to labor and civil laws to lift restrictions on women and allowing them to drive and travel independently, as well as more rights in family matters.3 Perhaps, then, more open dialog between men and women has changed the power structure and created opportunities for everyone to participate in a broad array of roles.