A new study shows that Egyptians are liking, sharing and posting more than ever on social media, while the UAE are miles ahead when it comes to Instagram...

Staff Writer

Jan 24, 2014

It's official - Egyptians are addicted to social media according to the latest statistics. More than 14 million of us can't stop posting, chatting and Liking everything in sight. Unsurprisingly the largest age group for Facebook usage is currently 18-24, followed by the users in the age of 25-34. And both sexes are logging on for their social media fix as 64% male users and 36% female users in Egypt sign in.

The most popular pages in the country belong to mobile app "Facebook for Every Phone" and pop hunk Amr Diab, who scored Egypt's fastest growing fan page this year. Tamer Hosny and Samo Zaen follow Diab when it comes to the celebs Egyptians click on most. Unsurprisingly, football giants top the list in sporting terms. But it wasn't all self-indulgence as big-hearted Cairenes ranked the Children's Cancer Hospital Foundation as the country's top charity page.

Egypt also beats off competition from our near neighbours when it comes to Twitter. Last year Egypt had 900,0000 Twitter users and the number has been growing steadily with usage set to reach the one million mark within months. The most popular Twitter profile belong to ousted TV host Dr Bassem Youssef, followed by Muslim preacher Amr Khaled.

The latest stats rank Egypt sixth in the entire Arab world when it comes to Instagram usage ahead of tech savvy Gulf nations including Qatar and Bahrain, though the UAE go home with the top spot.

The figures have left many experts questioning whether the country is in fact facing a growing problem of social media addiction, fuelled by high speed internet access and the instant gratification of 2014 smart phone technology. The news comes as a Princeton study which compared Facebook to a highly infectious disease. However the same study also claimed that the social network is set to reach a certain critical mass of ‘infected’ users, and that up to 80% of these individuals will ‘recover’ and quit the site.

Here at CairoScene we definitely 'like' social media. But our own in-house experts believe you should definitely 'follow' your friends in real life and not just online, so why not check out our events calander for ideas on how to kick your social media habit? #JustSayin