The participation of tens of thousands of young Saudis in a social media debate over plans to reform the kingdom’s oil-reliant economy last month marked a shift in how Riyadh’s rulers interact with their subjects.
Saudi Arabia’s leaders have historically courted public opinion only via informal councils with tribal, religious and business leaders or citizens seeking to petition them.
But in one of the most active countries on social media in the Arab world, the rulers have started trying to shape the online debate with carefully managed media campaigns.
“It’s a new focus for the government as it reaches out to a young Saudi population that is more likely to use social media,” Saudi analyst and commentator Mohamed Alyahya said. “That’s the most effective way to capture their attention.”
One recent showcase for this was the launch of 31-year-old Deputy Crown Prince Mohamed bin Salman’s Vision 2030 reform plans, which used Twitter alongside traditional media to build anticipation and introduce hashtags - key discussion phrases.
“A strong and determined country with a connection between the government and the citizen,” one of the slogans read.
Some 190,000 Twitter users in Saudi Arabia actively took part in the ensuing debate over Vision 2030, generating more than 860,000 messages according to France-based social media monitor Semiocast.
This meant the discussion reached 46% of the 7.4mn active Twitter users in the kingdom, Semiocast said, describing this level of outreach in a state-sponsored debate as exceptional.
The level of participation means even ministers without social media accounts invest time and money monitoring what people say about them online, said Diya Murra, a Riyadh-based account director for social media agency The Online Project.
“People are holding them accountable for things that are being done or not,” he said.
Social media use among the 21mn Saudis and roughly 10mn foreign residents of the kingdom cuts across political and religious lines: keenly followed social media users include both strict Muslim clerics and self-described liberals.
Twitter is most popular among 18 to 24-year-olds in Saudi Arabia, followed closely by users in their late 20s to early 40s and its usage is split roughly between men and women, according to iMENA Digital, which serves clients in Saudi Arabia.
It said photo-sharing site Instagram has become the leading channel among young Saudis.
Speaking at a packed discussion about Twitter in an expensive Riyadh hotel last month, Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir said the platform was not always an accurate barometer of public opinion, but that it could help track trends.
“It is direct. There are no barriers,” he told the largely young audience.
However, he and other Gulf Arab politicians speaking at the forum also said they were in favour of controls to prevent anonymous posting and of punishing users who broke taboos by criticising religion.
On Monday, a Riyadh court sentenced a man to 80 lashes for Tweets that carried “insults to the country”, as well as for drinking alcohol, Okaz daily reported.
More than a third of reactions to Vision 2030 on Twitter were positive, Semiocast said, adding the debate generated “patriotic pride” and expectations of progress.
The debate had been closely co-ordinated over various media and driven by influential Saudi personalities young people were already connected to, The Online Project’s Murra said.