Kuwait Bloggers meet - Social media's role in focus

Kuwait Bloggers Gathering's ceminar organized on the last Sunday 15th April at the Gulf University of Science and Technology (GUST). Rahaf Al Anjiri the Public Relation Manager of Bloggers Gathering's said in her talk "Social media these days are ruling the lives of people right from the time they wake upfrom bed till they go to bed and we are determined to make the best use of the tools to develop the society as well as our country". 

The event was attended by bloggers from all around Kuwait as well as students and members of the general public. Among the speakers were Hamad Al Ali, a blogger on 7amadqalam.com, Ayman Al-Ruwayeh, blogger on tsweeq.com, AbdulRahman Al-Qattan of Cubical Services, Lawyer Adel AlYahya, Rakan Al-Fadalah and Riyadh AlAdsani.

Rakan Al-Fadalah, Marketing and Public Relations Manager for 'Chocolateness' a small business that produces chocolate goodies and products established since the Forties and right now have started the first e-commerce site and sold more than six hundred thousand pieces in the three-year period that was started with a base of more than fifteen thousand unique paying customers since it was started as a home-based business. He added that right now the company has become a real established business in Kuwait.

Rakan Al-Fadalah spoke about the role of social media in commerce and how it helps small businesses to market their products as well as servicing the community. He said his business mainly depends on the social media like Twitter, Facebook and lately Instagram as well as forums on websites and blogs. Al-Fadalah stressed the importance of social media channels to the growth of small businesses which reduce the cost of marketing and the media campaigns for their operations in Kuwait. The biggest benefit gained by his company since they started, he added is that the revenue accruing from these channels is very high, compared to conventional media like TV and newspapers. He termed the social media as a two-dimensional communication tool where customers give feed-back to the company and the company in turn, based on the feed-back also acts to get better on the product to address the customers’ concerns. Having been associated with the event for the first time, Al-Fadalah was full of praises for the organizers of the event, saying “we believe we’re not building a small business but the history of a success story which Bloggers Gathering is a part of”.

Hamad Al-Ali, a blogger on 7amadqalam.com — a new blog just established about three months back stated that all he talks about in his blog are the usual trending issues in Kuwait and that he can be part of the success stories of companies who have started approaching him to post advertisements on his blog.

He added that after what happened to him in his Twitter life, he decided to document all his experiences and ideas and that cannot be done in just one hundred and forty words on Twitter, that’s why he decided to start the blogging site. With more than twenty five thousand Twitter followers, Al-Ali said his blog has become an immediate attraction for marketing of items.

Ayman Al-Ruwayah, online marketing specialist who runs the e-commerce site tsweeq.com, stated in his delivery at the seminar that e-marketing is a big part of all aspects of life now in Kuwait because everybody uses the tools of e-marketing like iPhone, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and so forth. He said the first stage of e-marketing for people who want to start is the development of a well-structured website with site maps, galleries, introductions, blogs as well as YouTube. He noted that e-commerce in Kuwait is growing, like talabat.com the popular e-commerce website is used to order meals from any restaurant in Kuwait make payment online and have it delivered to the buyer’s home or wherever. The e-commerce site has a daily hit on at least four thousand.

A-Ruwayeh also outlined the guidelines for people interested in venturing into e-commerce, such as registration, payment method, and shipment method, clear and nice pictures of items on display for sale as well as good customer service techniques.

The seminar dealt with the role of bloggers in the era of the regeneration of social development and more positive roles for the community. Blogging is very simple and can be used by anyone and everyone who has an idea to share with the world, whether locally or internationally. There is no limit to freedom of speech which is a given right to every blogger or reporter on the web.

It is now an established fact that blogging is a part of everyday life and is growing quickly by the second. There may be different goals set by different bloggers, but the common goal of all is to let the world know about what is going on around them. Highlighting was also laid on the establishment of principles to ensure that there is freedom of expression devoid of the language of insult or sedition.