Yes it’s officially. In Abu Dhabi there are now more people reading their Facebook news feeds that reading actual news in newspapers. A study by Dubai-based marketing and communications agency Spot On Public Relation has concluded that there are more Facebook users across the Arab-speaking world than there are newspaper readers.

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The study found that there are now more than 15 million people using Facebook. Only 14 million newspapers are sold in the region including Arabic. English and French languages. Facebook is now believed to be the number one method of communication and source for news in the area.

The largest number of Facebook users are found in Egypt with 3.5 million, far larger than the biggest newspaper. In the United Arab Emirates, which includes Abu Dhabi, a third of the population had a Facebook profile.