Going online comes naturally to youth in Egypt and Saudi Arabia

Being connected to the internet is as normal as eating or sleeping, according to a survey of young people in Saudi Arabia and Egypt.

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Being connected to the internet is as normal as eating or sleeping, according to a survey of young people in Saudi Arabia and Egypt.

The music station MTV surveyed the "millennial" generation in those two countries and found that respondents were both heavy internet users and optimistic about life in general.

In Egypt, about 78 per cent of respondents said that being connected to the internet was as much a part of life as eating or sleeping. In Saudi Arabia, 70 per cent agreed.

Robert Bakish, the chief executive of Viacom International Media Networks, part of the group that owns the MTV brand, said this millennial generation - people born in 1981 or later - had a positive outlook on life.

"This millennial group is the most optimistic that we've ever seen," he said.

The survey's findings are being used by Viacom to inform its programming decisions in the Middle East, according to Mr Bakish.

"Traditional television continues to be important. But at the same time they expect to have the ability to access content, and interact with content … through interactive technologies, be it the wired internet or mobile apps," he said. "The notion of optimism is another sensibility that we look to reflect in the programming."

Antonio Campo Dall'Orto, the executive vice president of Viacom International, yesterday presented the results of the survey to the Abu Dhabi Media Summit.

Mr Dall'Orto pointed out that family life was very important to young Saudis. "They are very close to their families," he said. "Family ties are even stronger in this area of the world."

Media executives agreed that Middle East youth are engaged with the internet.

"The youth here is no different to the youth in the US or other places. They're engaged as far as digital in concerned; they get their news and music that way," said Saad Mohseni, the chairman and chief executive of the Dubai media firm Moby Group.

"In a place like Afghanistan, where the internet penetration only a few years ago was at 5 per cent, it has tripled. And it's growing very quickly because of the 3G," Mr Mohseni added.

"Most of these kids have never had a PC or a laptop. They're going straight to a mobile device. That's how they consume news, they watch YouTube on it, that's how they interact with each other on Facebook."

Viacom said this week it planned to invest in Arabic content.

The Nasdaq-listed company said local productions and events centred around its brands in this region are both in the pipeline.

Viacom runs a feed of the music station MTV Arabia in this region, and its children's station Nickelodeon is available locally.