We all agreed before that 2020 was the weirdest year. We can almost say that the pandemic had brought out the best in people; people suddenly became creative and discovered new skills that they never thought they had. This happened because people had too much free time, so they were either creating content for social media platforms or checking this content.
If you think we were done with what people were doing in 2020, then you’re wrong. We still have something more in our pockets.
We are about to tell you what the MENA region spent 2020 watching on YouTube.
What People Watched on YouTube
In a new YouTube video posted by YouTube Culture & Trends, Abdel-Rahman Hussein who is Google’s culture expert in the Middle East and North Africa discussed what people in the MENA had watched on YouTube in 2020. It’s worth mentioning that Hussein is specializing in local culture and trends on YouTube.
The video is 3 minutes long and it will take you on a journey filled with many topics and videos that people were watching on YouTube over the last year.
This video showed how people’s habits changed and how the whole MENA region almost shared the same interest at the same time.
Using YouTube in Education
Viewers used YouTube to educate themselves while content creators used YouTube to serve the educational sector.
Since many people had to stay home, some of them decided to earn more skills and to improve themselves. Therefore, many people headed towards watching educational videos. A report from Ipsos Global Trends 2020: Understanding Complexity showed that 94% of Egyptians and Saudi Arabians watched educational content.
How to Stay Fit at Home
One of the most trending topics on social media was working out from home; it attracted many people.
This was also one of the most-watched topics on YouTube. As many people wanted to stay fit during 2020 and especially quarantine, the YouTube workout videos grew by 460% as it attracted many viewers in the MENA. 2020 had witnessed many Yoga coaches and trainers posting videos to people on how to keep fit during the quarantine.
Virtual Gatherings
One of the trendiest activities in 2020 is gathering virtually.
Many people have used social media platforms to stay connected during this tough time. The Ipsos report stated that 97% of people in Egypt and Saudi Arabia used online platforms to stay connected. This leads us to the following, during the holy month of Ramadan, people came together and created the largest online iftar. This iftar actually set a world record and joined Guinness World Record.
Also, staying connected and coming together inspired many content creators to create YouTube videos to raise awareness. This was obvious in how people posted videos to collect donations for Beirut after the explosion. Also, during Ramadan, people watched many videos regarding Eid celebrations and decorations.
One of the videos that attracted many viewers was a gender reveal in Dubai. A married couple had their gender reveal party in Dubai and used Borj Khalifa to reveal the baby’s gender. The video has over 31 million views on YouTube.
This change that occurred to people makes us curious about what this year is holding and if people will still have the same interests or everything will change.
