The social media use of Muslim women in the Arabian Peninsula: insights into self-protective information behaviours
| Date | 19 November 2021 |
| Pages | 817-834 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/JD-07-2021-0136 |
| Published date | 19 November 2021 |
| Subject Matter | Library & information science,Records management & preservation,Document management,Classification & cataloguing,Information behaviour & retrieval,Collection building & management,Scholarly communications/publishing,Information & knowledge management,Information management & governance,Information management,Information & communications technology,Internet |
| Author | Steven Buchanan,Zamzam Husain |
The social media use of Muslim
women in the Arabian Peninsula:
insights into self-protective
information behaviours
Steven Buchanan
Communications, Media and Culture, University of Stirling,
Stirling, UK, and
Zamzam Husain
University of Stirling, Stirling, UK
Abstract
Purpose –The purpose is to provid e insight into the social media related information b ehaviours of Muslim
women within Arab socie ty, and to explore issues o f societal constraint and control, and impact o n
behaviours.
Design/methodology/approach –The study conducted semi-structured interviews with Muslim women
resident within the capital city of a nation within the Arabian Peninsula.
Findings –Social media provides the study participants’with an important source of information and social
connection, and medium for personal expression. However, use is constrained within sociocultural boundaries,
and monitored by husbands and/or male relatives. Pseudonym accounts and carefully managed privacy
settings are used to circumvent boundaries and pursue needs, but not without risk of social transgression. The
authors provide evidence of systematic marginalisation, but also of resilience and agency to overcome. Self-
protective acts of secrecy and deception are employed to not only cope with small world life, but to also
circumvent boundaries and move between social and information worlds.
Research limitations/implications –Findings should not be considered representative of Muslim women
as a whole as Muslim women are not a homogenous group, and Arabian Peninsula nations variously more
conservative or liberal than others.
Practical implications –Findings contribute to practical and conceptual understanding of digital literacy
with implications for education programmes including social, moral and intellectual aspects.
Originality/value –Findings contribute to conceptual and practical understanding of information poverty,
evidencing structural inequalities as a major contributory factor, and that self-protective information
behaviours, often considered reductive, can also be expansive in nature.
Keywords Information behaviour, Information poverty, Muslim women, Women’s studies
Paper type Research paper
1. Introduction
This paper provides insights into the social media related information behaviours of
Muslim women within Arab society. Studies of Muslim women’s use of social media in
western society identify an important role for access to everyday information, social
connection, personal expression and positive portrayal of often stereotyped Muslim
identity (e.g. Islam, 2019). However, there are limited comparative studies reporting from
within Arab society. This perspective is important as socioc ultural factors a re known to
influence peoples’information behaviours (e.g. Savolainen, 1995;Wilson, 1997); and whilst
there is some evidence of similar social media use as western peers, there is also some
evidence of sociocultural constraints and control in Arab society (e.g. Kaposi, 2014;Vieweg
and Hodges, 2016;Abokhodair and Vieweg, 2016). This study sought to explore such issues
further, and from the important and underrepresented perspective of Muslim women
themselves.
The social
media use of
Muslim women
817
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:
https://www.emerald.com/insight/0022-0418.htm
Received 12 July 2021
Revised 21 October 2021
Accepted 22 October 2021
Journal of Documentation
Vol. 78 No. 4, 2022
pp. 817-834
© Emerald Publishing Limited
0022-0418
DOI 10.1108/JD-07-2021-0136
2. Background
2.1 Muslim women as a study group
It is outwith the practical scope of this paper to comprehensively discuss Muslim women as a
study group, and to reflect all perspectives and population groups (Muslim women not being
a homogenous group, and some Arabian Peninsula nations being more conservative or
liberal than others); however, it is nonetheless important to contextualise this study.
In broad terms, Arab society is considered authoritarian, collectivist and patriarchal.
Privacy, reputation and honour are important values that govern everyday social norms and
behaviours, and can be particularly conservative for women extending to strict gender
segregation and dress conventions. Across the Arabian Peninsula various constitutional
reforms have advanced the economic, political and social rights of women, and in recent years
there has been a significant increase in women attending university and in employment, but
employment rates are still low relative to men (World Bank, 2020), and in some countries,
political and social rights remain limited (e.g. Al Alhareth et al., 2015;Tripp, 2020). Personal
status laws (family law) can also discriminate against women, with Tripp (2020) reporting
that the rights of women in many Arab nations are often indistinguishable from those of
children. Tripp argues that, “The equation of women with children is suggestive of the status
of minors who are not accorded full citizenship, but rather, are in need of protection and
special consideration”(2020, p. 216). In several Arab nations, personal status laws also
provide women with limited protection from domestic abuse (Human Rights Watch, 2017).
For further background reading on Arab society and women’s rights, see recent reviews by
Darhour and Dahlerup (2020), and Yassin and Hoppe (2019).
2.2 Previous studies examining women’s use of social media within Arab nations
There are limited previous studies providing insight into women’s use of social mediawithin
Arabnations, and few focused solelyon women. To date, no studies have beenundertaken from
an informationbehaviour perspective;and whilst insights can be drawnfrom other disciplines,
some studies,involving both male and female participants,provide no breakdowns by gender
(e.g. Al Jenaibi,2011;Mohamed and Ahmad, 2012;Al Omoushet al., 2012). We focus below on
the most relevant previous empirical studies providing insight into Muslim women’suseof
social media in Arab society, drawing from across Human Computer Interaction,
Cyberpsychology, Media, Middle Easternand Women’s Studies to do so.
Rajakumar (2012) explored how gender, class and ethnicity affect Qatari women’s (n100)
use of social media. Conducted via survey, the study provides no demographics and limited
empirical data, but reports factors of identity and privacy influencing social media use.
Rajakumar reports that the majority of participants posted no images of themselves
(including veiled images) due to concerns over “where their photos would end up or by whom
they would be seen”(2012, p. 130). Rajakumar describes these behaviours as a “form of
protection”and as “an active and conscious choice to circumvent any negative attention that
may result in sanctions against their other social choices”(2012, p. 130). Rajakumar reports no
conflict or complaint amongst participants regarding such self-censorship, apart from one
participant who commented, “I would love to put my own photo in my [Facebook] profile, but
somehow I feel it’s not socially acceptable”(2012, p. 132). Rajakumar argues that rather than
interpreting “faceless Facebook profiles”as evidence of unwanted control and restriction,
such profiles can be considered as “a demonstration of agency”that provides Qatari women
with valued privacy, and “control over a critical aspect of how their identity is accessed and
understood by other users”(2012, p. 133). In relation, the low reported use of pseudonyms
amongst participants (2%) is attributed to participant confidence that their online behaviours
conform to social norms.
Almenayes (2014) conducted a survey of the social media use of Kuwaiti university
students (n808, avg. age 21), with the majority of participants women (70.4%). Almenayes
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