Social Media has undeniably changed the way how the government, organisations and people facilitate and share information, ideas, and interests. With just one click, content may now be shared with a larger audience, even outside of the country.
Qatar TV has been utilising this platform to fulfill its crucial function as a news and information provider to the general public as the digital media has continued to develop over time.
The TV expanded its growth to the social media world and created pages on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube, providing users convenient ways to access news than ever before. Additionally, its website qtv.qa is linked to the aforementioned platforms and provides a livestream section for real-time television broadcasting.
There are 355,222 likes on Qatar TV’s Facebook page, over 329,000 followers on Twitter, over 366,000 on Instagram, and an astounding 840,000 subscribers and 413 million views on its YouTube channel. The numbers are a testament on its strong connection to the people online.
The Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube pages of the TV were established in March 2012 and December 2012, respectively.
With the exception of YouTube, where it broadcasts a longer video and even shows, it shares the same content across all platforms. Bite-size or micro videos, which convey a focused message on a topic and provide a pertinent morsel of information that internet users can readily digest with a click, have also been adopted by Qatar TV.
User engagement on its social media pages are high – people like, comment and share its posts on the netizen’s own personal account, paving way to reach more people. Qatar TV has cultivated its online social media presence over the years, integrating new techniques on posting to better engage the audience, this is evident through the number of viewers, impressions of posts, and number of followers it produces every month.
The four platforms are active 24/7 with a dedicated social media team to constantly upload and post breaking news, news that are relevant, messages that are beneficial to the public, and information that the people needs to know. From traffic, weather updates, events happening across the country, government news, breaking news, current affairs, and all in between – Qatar TV covers everything.
As the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 approaches in less than three months, the channel will provide unrivaled coverage of the most prestigious event, beginning with its 100-day countdown to the final match and covering all of the tournaments, events, shows, and exhibitions that will take place during the competition.
Report on DataReportal February 2022, said that there were 2.95 million social media users in Qatar in January 2022. The number of social media users in the country at the start of 2022 was equivalent to 99.8 percent of the total population, but it’s important to note that social media users may not represent unique individuals.
Kepios analysis revealed that social media users in Qatar increased by 80 thousand (+2.8 percent) between 2021 and 2022.
Meanwhile, Speedtest by Ookla said that the median mobile internet connection speed in Qatar increased by 7.18 Mbps (+7.9 percent) in the twelve months to the start of 2022. Ookla’s data shows that fixed internet connection speeds in Qatar increased by 9.83 Mbps (+18.1 percent) during the same period.
This data shows the strong online presence of people in the country and how they use the internet on which they get information, including Qatar TV.
The ability of social media to rapidly connect people around the globe has improved and become more crucial, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Through its social media accounts, Qatar TV regularly kept the general public and online users up to date on the most recent COVID-19 cases, measures to prevent the disease, and updates being taken by both public and private entities in relation to the pandemic and other relevant news. The number of views, likes, comments, and shares on its postings has increased as more users engage with the channel.
After starting 52 years ago and entering the social media sphere a decade ago, Qatar Television has gone through major shifts in the rapidly changing technology landscape. Whatever the time period, it has always been committed to providing the public with timely, relevant news that people can rely on.
