The Demographics of a Connected Culture

Abstract

Abstract This chapter explores what digital affordances reveal about opportunities and challenges for the Middle East’s various communities and cultures. While children, youth, and women constitute distinctly significant segments of the population, their interests are poorly served, and their voices are inadequately represented in the development, organization, and management of Arab societies. Decisions about the acquisition, adoption, and use of technologies primarily remain the purview of a predominantly older male demographic whose choices and priorities determine policy. When media content and digital communication are believed to unsettle the status quo, states intervene, invoking the need to safeguard the social order. This approach is motivated by cultural preservation but also stems from long-standing views about the role and status of children, youth, and women in society. While such logics continue to shape how these demographic categories are perceived and treated in Middle Eastern societies, the digital turn has also given rise to media uses and communication practices that challenge established sociocultural norms.