US Elections Through Middle Eastern Lens

For an eventful year like 2016, the US elections was the most suitable grand finale, giving its significance, to dominate people’s conversations on social media. Although it took place in Nov. 2016, the buzz on social media existed throughout the year. Moreover, as it is Trump’s first day at the Oval Office, the buzz is increasing globally.

So, we decided to monitor the online users in the Middle East to identify how they perceived the elections on social media, and how they are interacting with Trump’s first day of presidency . In this blog, we will present to you the top mentions and conversations of the elections, which we monitored using the Crowd Analyzer dashboard starting Nov. 1 and until the inauguration day on Jan. 20, 2017.

US Elections and the Middle East. Who said What, Where and How?

Top Locations

Most mentions came from users in Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Kuwait, UAE and Lebanon.

Gender Analysis

Although male users had larger percentage of participation than females, agencies owned the largest number of mentions.

Influencers Scorecard

Looking closer to these mentions and interactions, we have created this storyboard of the most interesting ones.

So, Trump won. As shocking as it was for most people around the world, social media users in the Middle East went beyond their shock to set hypothesis regarding the future of the US. For them, it seemed that the US was imitating some of the Middle Eastern countries, and the political situation is turning to be like how they have it there.

الإندبندنت: نجل ترامب يسير على خطى جمال مبارك https://t.co/XAziEM9zz5 pic.twitter.com/NOCAEkWYbG

— وطن. يغرد خارج السرب (@watan_usa) November 17, 2016

The shock and the confused reactions also felt like how some of the Arabs reacted to their own elections.

On the other hand, the results were pleasing for some people, for that it gave them hope in life. They thought: if Trump could win the elections and become the president of the United States of America, then they too can become whoever they want and achieve everything they aim for.

Getting more political. The Right To Vote!

Some people argued that they should have voted in the US presidential elections as well. Why? Because they claim that the US president is the one who will be governing their countries and their presidents, thus, their votes need to be counted.

Feeling bad for Hillary?

The iconic photo of the Egyptian actress Abla Kamel, was trending on social media, but with Hillary’s face. As it represented a state of disappointment and depression, people could relate to how Hillary was feeling after the loss.

لسان حال هيلاري يقول …
كسر رمح الزمن صدري وجيتك اشتكي حيران ,, نزعتي الرمح من صدري وفي ظهري طعنتيني pic.twitter.com/BBLrldLosu

— Uu Nn (@unn750) November 9, 2016

So, what is next for Hillary? and what would she do?

Well, don’t worry! People had some brilliant ideas for that too. As they offered several career-shift suggestions, Hillary’s future seems to be promising.