43% of UAE workers admit using social websites in office

More than 43 percent of UAE internet users admit to logging on to social networking websites while at work, a new survey to investigate online trends in the Middle East has revealed. The survey by online jobs site Bayt.com and YouGov, a research and consulting organisation, showed that the predominant reason for going online was to participate in social activities. The survey results also showed that 70 percent of UAE respondents spend three hours or more online every day.Results asking respondents to state all social networks to which they belong proved that Facebook is the site of choice. Of the 1,049 UAE respondents, only 10 percent claimed to not have a Facebook profile while LinkedIn just beat Twitter with 28 percent as opposed to the latter's 27 percent. Only seven percent claimed to have no social networking profiles at all. Facebook usage was especially high, with 70 percent logging onto the site on a daily basis, whereas only 21 percent visited Twitter every day, the survey added.The majority of UAE users (58 percent) spend between 30 minutes and three hours a day on Facebook, with another 16 percent claiming to be signed into their account most times of the day. In the UAE, 43 percent of respondents said they use social networking websites at their place of work with the main reason for not accessing such sites while in the office due to the employee not having time (65 percent), rather than sites being blocked (20 percent). For online shopping, the results demonstrated that 12 percent of respondents research for online deals/special offers daily, 12 percent most days of the week, 13 percent at least once a week, and an additional 10 percent at least once a month. The biggest concern to do with the internet put forward across the region is inappropriate content being easily accessible to children and youths. Data for the Bayt.com Internet Usage in the Middle East survey was collected online in August, with 8,981 respondents representing Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Morocco, Oman, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Tunisia and the UAE.