Religious Information Seeking on Social Media in Saudi

unearthly info Seeking on Social Media in SaudiAbdullah AlmobarrazReligious Information Seeking on Social Media in Saudi SocietyABSTRACTReading and learning closely phantasmal info is a habit that Saudis traffic pattern to increase their take ining of Islamic rules. It is common now for heap to learn just closely godliness from brotherly media. Therefore, the theater reports on a survey that was distri buted to tidy sum in Saudi Arabia to enquire the subroutine of well-disposed media technologies for phantasmal entropy desire. The objective is to determine if Saudis utilize social media to attempt for phantasmal knowledge and to understand their information-seeking behaviors when using such(prenominal) a resource. In addition, the study is an attempt to study how spectral information on social media changes and influences quite a little, and what obstacles and difficulties Saudis encounter when they use social media to nonplus apparitional information.Keyw ords Information behavior, Internet resources, Religious information, Saudi Society, Social network, Social mediaIntroductionSocial media has become a popular tool used to assay for information during the past few years. Currently, a festering number of people use social media in every last(predicate) activities related to their lives. Social media tools can in any case be excellent for hunt clubing out, learning, and publishing unearthly information. As people become more adept in their use of social media in religious learning and practice, questions begin to emerge about the implications of new media platforms and practices for faith formation, leadership, and religious practice across traditions (Anderson, 2013). By answering these questions, we can come to understand wherefore social media is commonly used to change religious views and deliver beliefs to different types of people.As social media increasingly becomes department of our daily lives, people will find supe rstarself new representations to interact with religion and spirituality. In the digital age, a group of virtual religionists will emerge, comprising individuals who do not affiliate with religious institutions, but argon nevertheless engaged in many aspects of a faith community through social networking (Miller, 2011).Research ProblemReading and learning about religious information is a habit that Saudis practice to increase their understanding of Islamic rules. In the past, most people learned about religion from handed-down resources, such as attending religious events, reading books and journals, and watching television programs. But with the advent of social media, religious information and resources take hold become friendly through this new channel. However, we do not know how religion and new forms of social media interact or what impact they have on each other.Indeed, no study has thus far investigated the use of social media or its content on the subject of religion. T herefore, this study explores the extent to which Saudis utilize social media to find religious information and examines how this affects their knowledge and learning style. Specifically, this exploratory study employs a quantitative approach through the distribution of a questionnaire to collect data related to the population. writings ReviewSocial media plays a clear role in changing the way people talk about faith and share religious information and perspectives, so religious leaders find it a great way to involve younger generations who may not be growing up with religion in their households (Cyprian, 2015). Recent years have seen a concern with the publishing of new information to help religious scholars understand digital media-especially social media. Religious leaders can now find texts to guide them through the construction of websites, blogs, and social media (Hutchings, 2012). However, the use of social media is not limited to religious leaders, but is in like manner use d by laypeople. It has increasingly become an important source of religious information for many people in the world (Harvey, 2014). In an average week, one and only(a) in five Americans shares their religious faith online (Pew Research Center, 2014). In addition to sharing their religious faith, people use social media to share information about their favorite religious organizations, activities, preachers, religious resources, Web sites, educational materials, new issues, and much more (Groenpj, 2011).Preston (2011) reported that although it is too early to say that social media has transformed the way in which people practice religion, the number of people discussing faith on Facebook has significantly increased in the past year. This trend is supported by the findings of Tallant (2013), who say that over 43 million Facebook users are fans of at least one religious page, and 31% of users in the United States list a religion in their profile. At this very basic level, it is poss ible to see that members of religious groups are using Facebook and are incorporating their religious beliefs into their online activities. As the use of social media evolves into an essential part of peoples daily lives, religious organizations are also using social media tools in increasingly inspired ways to spread their influence and build communities (Newberg, 2013). For example, a new-fashioned study in China showed that digital and social media have allowed one of the enceintest international religious and benevolent organizations to keep in touch with its more than 10 million followers worldwide, helping it in its mission to provide humanitarian relief (Cheong, Hwang, Brummans, 2014).Religious information in the Islamic world is also in the category of favored information. Baddawy (2014) surveyed 250 Muslim Facebook users and found that the highest percent of them are attracted by religious information. Mustafa et al. (2013) states that the attraction of information may c ontribute to religious understanding however, this is dependent on how people perceive the Islamic information shared on social media. Religious information may lead to improper behavior payable to various undercoats, such as ignorance of a religion, ease of online publishing, and spread of fringe groups (Hammad Faraj Allah, 2011).In Saudi Arabia, over the past few years, social media usage has been one of the most rapidly adopted activities, with more and more users accessing the Internet via their smartphones and tablets (AlJabre, 2013). Research conducted by Global Web Index suggested that almost 25% of the population in Saudi Arabia is active on social media (Zarovsky, 2013). Moreover, a social media agency report showed that there are 3 million Twitter users (around 12% of the population), growing by 3000%, with an average 50 million tweets per month, 840,000 LinkedIn users (4% of the population), and 6 million Facebook users (23% of the population) (Social Clinic, 2014).Th e adoption of social media has had a great effect on Saudis behaviors and beliefs (Alsharkh, 2012). Religion, for example, is an essential part of society, and so information related to religious issues has a crucial influence upon the cultures and thinking styles of individuals. Almaghthaway (2011) states that these issues used to be delivered by preachers and through traditional resources such as newspapers and auditory sensation materials, but in the 20th century, this all began to change. The advent of greater literacy, the deterioration of religious establishments, and new forms of communication such as radio and television all contributed to breaking down the pre-modern modes of religious authority (Almaghthaway, 2011). The late 20th century brought forth a new phenomenon the creation of Google. It is now common for Muslims to search for answers to religious questions by accessing the Internet. Social media, especially mobile computing devices such as smartphones and tables, contributes to the importance of the Internet as a source of religious information, which fosters discussion of contemporary religious issues. Increasingly, Saudis are posing questions to people they identify as religious authorities through Facebook, Twitter, and other social media apparatuses (Hellyer, 2013).Purpose of the Study and Research QuestionsAlthough close to query has been conducted on the effects of social media on peoples lives, previous studies have not focused on specific areas of Saudi society. More specifically, no studies have examined the effect of social media on religious information seeking. Therefore, the current study serves to examine this issue by using a descriptive method to investigate how religious information on social media changes and influences people.The study was designed to address four questions central to understanding Saudis information-seeking behavior on social media regarding religious informationTo what extent do Saudis use social media for religious purposes?What are the purposes and strategies of searching for religious information via social media?To what extent do Saudis trust social media to scram religious information?What obstacles and difficulties do Saudis encounter when they use social media to curb religious information?MethodologyThis study applied a quantitative research design involving a questionnaire distributed by e-mail to a group of participants in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The participants represent various segments of society. The questionnaire contained 14 items in five categories in nightclub to collect data related to participants use of searches via social media for religious information. The five question categories were (a) the demographics of participants (b) usage level of social media (c) purposes of and strategies for use (d) behavioral trust in social media and (e) obstacles to social media use. A total of 492 participants effected the questionnaire. Due to the nature of the researc h, descriptive statistical techniques were used to analyze and report the data. In the following sections, the findings are presented in relevant tables immediately subsequently their corresponding interpretations.Data Analysis and ResultsDescriptive statistics on each variable of the study are used to investigate peoples use of social media related to religious information. The percentage for each survey item question is reported in the tables that follow. The results are divided into categories that address the previously mentioned five issues, namely the demographic characteristics of participants, social media use, purposes and strategies of use, trust in social media, and difficulties of use.Demographic Characteristics of the SampleAs shown in Table 1, participants were relatively equally give out by gender, with 54% men and 46% women. As for age groups, 40% were aged 20-30 years, 28% were 31-40 years, 17% were 41-50 years, 9% were less than 20 years, and 5% were in the 51-6 0 years age group. As for marital status, the majority of participants (62%) were married, 34% were single, 3% were divorced, and only 1% were widowed. As for level of education, half of the participants (50%) had a bachelors degree, 18% had completed high school, 13% held an associate degree, 10% had a masters degree, 6% had a doctorate, and the rest of participants (3%) had not completed high school. In terms of occupation, 45% reported being government employees, 23% were students, 15% were unemployed, 13% were private-sector employees, and 4% were self-employed.Table 1. Demographic characteristics VariableItemPercentageGenderMale womanly54%46%Marital statusSingleMarriedDivorcedWidowed34%62%3%1%Age (years old)20-3031-4041-5051-60609%40%28%17%5%0Level of educationLess than high schoolHigh schoolAssociate degreeBachelorsMasters doctorate3%18%13%50%10%6%OccupationStudentGovernment employeePrivate-sector employeeSelf-employedUnemployed23%45%13%4%15%Social Media Usage for Searching fo r Religious InformationTable 2 shows the percentage of participants who potently book, agree, sometimes agree, take issue, and strongly disagree, respectively, with the use of social media to obtain religious information. Almost half of the participants (47%) hold or strongly agreed that social media is their preferred source for obtaining religious information. This phenomenon could be a result of the general use of social media by Saudi religious scholars. Of the top 10 most-followed users of social media in Saudi Arabia, 5 are religious scholars (Tweepar, 2014). Therefore, a large amount of information related to religion will be available to those who look for it on social media.Table 2. Use of social media to obtain religious information judgement absolute frequencyPercentage strongly agree8217% make14830%Sometimes agree18938%Disagree4810% strongly disagree255%Traditional Resources for Religious InformationParticipants were allowed to choose more than one option to specif y the resources they used to search for religious information before the advent of social media. Table 3 shows that among the different pre-social media resources, Internet Websites were reported by 64% of participants as their primary resource, followed by books (55%). A much smaller percentage of participants (3%) indicated that they used newspapers to obtain religious information.Table 3. Resources used to search for religious information before the advent of social mediaResources oftennessPercentageBooks27155%Journals194%Newspapers163%Audiovisual materials26053%Websites31564%Other296%Most-Consulted Social MediaWhen seeking religious information, the majority of participants (71%) consulted Twitter, followed by Google+ (42%). Surprisingly, Facebook was consulted for religious information by only 11% of participants. This finding differs from the general state of social media in Saudi Arabia, as Facebook is favored in that country (Social Clinic, 2014).Table 4. Most-used social me dia for seeking religious informationMediaFrequencyPercentageTwitter34871%Facebook5411%LinkedIn102%Google+20742%H521%Other6513%Purposes of Using Social Media Related to ReligionAlzoman (2012) stated that Saudi youths mostly use social media to understand and learn about new events. This study is consistent with those previous results. As Table 5 shows, learning about religion was the biggest reason (43%) for using social media to obtain information about religion, followed closely by the desire to read posts written by religious scholars (40%) who have a substantially reputation and are highly popular and by the desire to find answers related to religious issues in society (34%), and by the wish to communicate with religious scholars (12%).Table 5. Purpose for using social mediaPurposeFrequencyPercentageFinding answers to religious issues16634%Communicating with religious scholars6112% acquire about religion21343%Reading posts written by religious scholars19840%Other6313%Religious Information SourcesAlthough most people use electronic databases and formal Websites rather than personal Websites to locate new information and keep pace with scientific developments in their fields of specialty (Alsharhan, 2002), the search for religious information seems to operate differently. Almost half of the participants (45%) reported that they turn to the personal accounts of religious specialists to find information about religion. This finding may be unsurprising for Saudi Arabia due to the good reputation religious scholars hold within that society. Institutional accounts, by contrast, did not have the same popularity with participants, only 21% of whom reported using institutional accounts (government and nongovernment) for this kind of search.Table 6. Sources for searching for religious information via social mediaSourceFrequencyPercentageGovernment agencies accounts11016%Nongovernment agencies accounts467%Personal accounts of religious specialists30845%Subject headin gs and hashtags20129%Other213%Handling InformationParticipants were asked what actions they usually take after finding the information for which they were searching. The majority (68%) declared that they search for other sources to substantiate the credibleness of the information. Because any one can publish information on social media, participants might understandably not trust information the first time they see it. Social media is full of both no believable users and no credible information. Therefore, some users prefer to make some kind of evaluation before accepting information as credible.The behavior of the remaining 32% was as follows 12% accept the information and use it for their original purpose, 12% discuss the information and comment on it, and 6% publish it in their social media accounts.Table 7. natural action taken after obtaining informationActionFrequencyPercentageAccept it and use it for my original purpose6012%Search for other sources to verify the credibilit y33568%Publish it in my social media accounts306%Discuss and comment on it5812%Other92%CredibilityParticipants were asked to report their opinions regarding the credibility of religious information on social media and whether or not it can be certain. A five-point Likert scale was given to footfall this item, ranging from strongly agree to strongly disagree. The highest percentage of participants (45%) indicated that they sometimes trusted religious information on social media, whereas 32% of participants either disagreed or strongly disagreed with the credibility of social media. This matches the previous result indicating that users will search for other resources to verify the credibility of information they find on social media. The rest of the participants (24%) indicated that they agreed or strongly agreed with the statement that social media is credible and trustworthy.Table 8. Religious information on social media is credible and can be trustedOpinionFrequencyPercentageStr ongly agree204%Agree9620%Sometimes agree22045%Disagree12826%Strongly disagree286%Social Media SufficiencyTable 9 shows the percentage of participants who strongly agree, agree, sometimes agree, disagree, or strongly disagree with the statement that religious information on social media is sufficient and meets their needs. A plurality of participants (38%) disagreed or strongly disagreed with this statement, whereas the next highest percentage (33%) thought that it is sometimes sufficient. This is not surprising, because many people feel strongly about their religion and therefore may care about the credibility of religious information more than some other types of information. The information found on social media may be posted by users who are nonspecialists in religion. This leads many people to search for more credible and trusted resources. The rest (29%) of participants agreed or strongly agreed that religious information on social media is sufficient and meets their needs.Tabl e 9. Social media sufficiencyOpinionFrequencyPercentageStrongly agree163%Agree12826%Sometimes agree16333%Disagree14830%Strongly disagree378%Influence on Peoples ThoughtsTable 10 reports participants opinions regarding the statement that social media affects religious thoughts on society. The majority of participants (82%) reported that they agreed or strongly agreed with this statement. This result is compatible with a referendum conducted by a local newspaper that indicated that social media sites influence the personality of users and change their intellectual and heathenish attitudes (Okaz newspaper, 2013). Only a small percentage of participants (3%) disagreed or strongly disagreed with the statement. This finding shows the strength of social media in Saudi society, further confirming its role in societal and cultural transformation.Table 10. Social media affects religious thoughts on societyOpinionFrequencyPercentageStrongly agree14830%Agree25852%Sometimes agree7114%Disagree12 2%Strongly disagree31%Presentation and Dissemination of Religious IssuesA recent study revealed that social media is very effective at improving the dissemination of information (Allen, Stanton, Di Pietro, Moseley, 2013). The present study reached the same result. Table 11 shows that most participants (76%) agreed or strongly agreed with the statement that social media is useful in presenting and disseminating religious issues. By contrast, only a small number of participants (8%) reported that they disagreed or strongly disagreed with the statement regarding the positive role of social media in publishing religious opinions and issues.Table 11. Social media is useful for presenting and disseminating religious issuesOpinionFrequencyPercentageStrongly agree15431%Agree22345%Sometimes agree7615%Disagree316%Strongly disagree82%Social Media CensorshipSaudi Arabias Internet censorship is considered one of the most extensive in the world, and restricted and blocked Websites include those that are incompatible with Islam (Almobarraz, 2007). Therefore, participants were asked if they believed that the religious content of social media risked censorship. Table 12 shows that the highest percentage (44%) sometimes agreed that religious information on social media was blocked, whereas the next highest percentage (34%) agreed or strongly agreed with this statement. The rest of participants (22%) either disagreed or strongly disagreed.Table 12. Some accounts specializing in religious information are blockedOpinionFrequencyPercentageStrongly agree5110%Agree11824%Sometimes agree21644%Disagree8417%Strongly disagree235%Awareness of Religious AccountsParticipants were asked if they were aware of specialized religious accounts. As shown in Table 13, combining the positive responses of agree and strongly agree indicates that a plurality of participants (45%) were aware of specialized religious accounts on social media. The combination of negative responses of disagree and strongly disagree indicates that 25% were unaware of such accounts. The rest of participants (30%) were neutral.Table 13. Knowledge and awareness of accounts specializing in religious informationOpinionFrequencyPercentageStrongly agree398%Agree18237%Sometimes agree14730%Disagree10922%Strongly disagree153%Presence of Religious Resources on Social MediaParticipants were asked about the resources they trust to find religious information presented on social