International Journal of Computer Engineering & Technology (IJCET)

Volume 7, Issue 3, May-June 2016, pp. 5566, Article ID: IJCET_07_03_005

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ISSN Print: 0976-6367 and ISSN Online: 09766375
IAEME Publication

POSITIONING OF THE NEW MEANS OF

COMMUNICATION AND INFORMATION:
EMPIRICAL STUDY ON THE SOCIAL
NETWORKS IN MOROCCO
Hamid NAHLA
Professor at ENSEMHassan II UniversityCasablanca, Morocco
Systems Architecture Team, Laboratory of Informatics,
System and Renewable Energy
ABSTRACT
The social networks occupy a major place in the new technologies of
information and communication. Beyond their weight ceaselessly increasing
in the society, they became strategic supports as well for the individuals as for
the organizations. With the social networks, a real revolution upsets in a
radical way the ecosystem of the media and of the communication in our
societies. Internet and the social media have individualized and democratized
the access to real time diffusable contents in the global scale. Today, the
consumers of information are also producers of information and can enter in
competition with the traditional editors and broadcasting stations, the brands,
the public authorities. At the beginning these network were many but with the
massive arrival of users, they begin to look for a differentiation to target better
a public. In Morocco, two major social networks distance themselves from
others: Facebook and Twitter. They are different but complementary. An
empirical study allowed to place clearly their positioning by fame and by use
with the profiles of the connoisseurs and the users.
Key words: New Technologies of Information and The Communication,
Social Networks, Positioning, Morocco
Cite this Article: Hamid NAHLA, Positioning of The New Means of
Communication and Information: Empirical Study on The Social Networks In
Morocco, International Journal of Computer Engineering and Technology,
7(3), 2016, pp. 5566.
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1. INTRODUCTION
Like the great technological developments such as printing, telephone, cinema,
television and radio the Internet is one of the big revolutions that the last century
knew.Internet was itself the object of a revolution with the arrival of Web 2.0 which
saw the development of sites allowing to put in relation the people between them and
to make them exchange or collaborate in what we agreed to call the Social Networks
(SN) such Facebook (Fb) or Twitter (Tw) Generally there are two types of networks:
Generalists SN as FB, TW, WhatsApp, Google+ and Tumblr; and SN professionals
like Linkedin, Viadeo, Xing and Plaxo
Today their place became inescapable in diverse domains whatever is the level of
development of a country.
This article will discuss the positioning of these social networks in Morocco. An
empirical study realized with a representative sample of the Moroccan population will
allow to have a better visibility on the subject.

2. LITERATURE REVIEW
2.1. Definitions and evolution
A social network is a website that allows users to create a personal page to share and
exchange information and photos with their community of friends and their contacts
[2].
Danah M. Boyd et Nicole B. Ellison defined social network sites as web-based
services that allow individuals to construct a public or semi-public profile within a
bounded system [3], Adamic articulate a list of other users with whom they share a
connection [4]. Backstrom view and traverse their list of connections and those made
by others within the system [5]. The nature and nomenclature of these connections
may vary from site to site [6].
The use of the SN does not date from today, researchers mentioned their
existence, in the contemporary sense of the term, from the 30s of the last century.
Doreian and Stokman indicates that the Bank Wiring Room data is a widely used and
cited since 1939 network with multiple relations that include friendship, antagonism,
playing games and helping [1].
Figure 1 Word Map of soacial networks, January 2016

Source: Alexa/SimilarWeb

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Positioning of The New Means of Communication and Information: Empirical Study on The
Social Networks In Morocco

Source : AddTAny

In our time, we see the appearance of social networks has characters staff such as
marriage bureaus or of meetings but also with professional characters with
recruitment agencies, to such a point that the payoff to an individual from an
economic or social activity depends on the network of connections among individuals.
Over time individuals form and sever links connecting themselves to other individuals
based on the improvement that the resulting network offers them relative to the
current network [7].
On the empirical plan, there are bodies which make regularly inquiries on the SN.
at their head, there is Morocco Numeric Cluster [8] which establishes the ranking of
the busiest SN. We can learn there, for example, that the Moroccans try more and
more to exploit the new SN, to improve and maintain their social relationships.

2.2. The cases of Facebook and Twitter

There is of numerous SN whose forms, styles, objectives and functioning are
changing more or less of each other. These new technologies of digital
communication have radically changed the world within ten years.. By creating new
agile and intelligent canals of interaction, they upset durably the way the public
amuses, communicates, chooses and consumes [9].
Their use changes according to countries and continents as shows it all the studies
widely spread on the Web. A kind of segmentation is then installed.
In January, 2010: a new edition of my World Map of Social Networks, showing
the most popular social networking sites by country, according to Alexa &
SimilarWeb traffic data [10]:
According to all the studies, Fb and Tw are the SN which share, and by far, the
first two places.
Facebook (Group photo) aims to be the first SN to the world and it aims at the
being more and more. He allows each of these users to create free of charge a profile
then to add it his "friends". Real networks build up themselves, between friends and
friends of friends who can also group together in the form of "group" of common
interest.

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Figure 3 Number of monthly active Facebook

users worldwide frome as of quarter 2015 (in
millions)

Source : http:// www.statista.com [11]

In fact, almost all of us, when first approaching Tw, tend to use it to post useless
updates like Going to lunch, thinking of it as a another tool to communicate with
friends, when in fact, it is more like stepping on to a stage, where you are
communicating with an audience and quickly find that you need to find a voice and
say something useful and interesting or quickly lose the attention of your audience.
People refer to Tw as a mini or micro blogging platform. While zealots will
immediately point to either Tw or Fb as being superior, the truth is that each has its
advantages and disadvantages and will tend to appeal more to different types of
people and for different reasons [12].
Figure 4 Number of monthly active Twitter users
worldwide from 1st quarter 2010 to 4th quarter 2015
(in millions)

Source : http:// www.statista.com [11]

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Positioning of The New Means of Communication and Information: Empirical Study on The
Social Networks In Morocco

3. EMPIRICAL STUDIE
3.1. Objectivities
The objective of this study is to locate the positions of SN for their Moroccan users.

3.2. Research hypotheses

From the beginning of the existence of the SN in their modern version at the end of
2000s, a multiple and varied offer was within the reach of the users. The choice must
be made and at some point, the RS finds itself in a requirement of differentiation to
win better market shares quantitatively and qualitatively. To understand better these
strategies we pass on the demand side and we verify on which bases the users choose
their SN and which image they make it in terms of preferences and use.

3.3. Research methogology

It is a question at first realization of a large-study between 2015 and 2016 pay to
approach various questions concerning the SN. The two axes of our interests are
positioning SN in Morocco, subject of this article, and the behavior of users of these
SN, subject of another article [20].
The size of the sample is 517 people representing the Moroccan population. It was
built by the method of the quotas by basing itself on 6 criteria: sex, Age, Level of
studies, Family situation, Professionaly occupation and Origin. The survey was
conducted by face-to-face, phone and Internet. The obtained quantitative data were
processed with software Sphinx and online form of Google Drive 3.4. Variables to
study Variables retained for this article concern the identification of respondents on
the basis of 6 criteria mentioned above as well as varaibles which clear: "known SN",
"favorite SN" "Used SN".

3.5. Aanalysis
The identification sheet appears as follows: the typical profile of our sample is
represented by a young male student casablancais of an upper level of education.
Figure 5 Sex

Figure 6 Age

Figure 7 Level of studies

Figure 8 Family situation

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Figure 9 Profession

Figure 10 Origin

3.5.1 Fame and preference

In terms of fame, 97% of our sample using two categories of SN whom are the
general practitioners and the professionals. 96% know FB, Google + and Whatsapp
against only 6% for.
In the category of general networks, Fb largely takes the first place with 96%. With
Fb, we live exactly the same phenomenon as had aroused the GSM. It is not the
showing, it is just the trend. () Fb, it is as Megamall where we go to buy what we
need and sometimes also what we do not need", described the CEO and founder of the
Association of Facebookers Maroccans (AFAM) ", Larbi Benameur." [13].
After Fb, there are Tw (35%) who is a tool of SN [14] and of microblogage which
allows a user to send free of charge brief messages, called tweets of 140 characters
maximum "chirping" by instant messaging [15] or by SMS [16].
According to respondents, the success of this both SN is due to their ease of
employment, their fast accessibility, their wide audience as well as to their free
access.
In the category of the professional networks, LinkedIn takes the first place with
56% followed by Viadeo (43%) against 1% for Plaxo. The popularity of LinkedIn can
be explained by the opportunity to build and to aggregate its own professional
network to facilitate the dialogue between professionals.
Concerning the frequency of use of the SN, 20% of the respondents cross an
average duration between 1 and 2 hours per day, 19% pass between 2 and 4 hours and
18% more than 4 hours. So, the intensive use of the SN (4 hours and more) records a
7.6% increase to the detriment of the moderate and occasional uses compared in the
year 2012. The main motivation of the use of the SN is at first to inquire (82%), to
chat (66%) and to comment and interact (58%). On brand pages on SN, 29% of
respondents claim to be active members without intervening regularly while 28%
never intervene on these pages. Compared to what is expected of the SN followed
brands, 29% of people seek trade discounts, 22% hold proprietary information and
16% to receive advice.

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Positioning of The New Means of Communication and Information: Empirical Study on The
Social Networks In Morocco

Although the SN was born in the late 90's, they became popular in Morocco only
by 2008. Internet began to become - in the time(period) within the reach of wide
sectors of society in particular with the increase of the number of cybercafes as well
as that of the park of PC become accessible easily thanks to three factors:
Their prices have dropped thanks to a fierce competition between brands, the
Moroccan market being opened to all the brands which wish to settle down there;
The eixtence of a parallel market informale in particular in Casablanca (Derb
Ghallef) and Rabat (Souika);
The easier and easier possibility of the access to the household electrical credit of
which the computer equipment products now beginning to join.
We notice that year 2008 is the peak as regards the adherence of the members to their
network preferred with 24 % growth while 2004s, 2005 and 2014 represent a
minimum with a percentage which does not exceed 1%.
Figure 11 Growth rate (%) of membership of the Moroccan in a SN between 2004 and 2014

Because it is a growth rate, this decrease from 2011 can be explained by a

saturation phenomenon. We always adheres to a SN but the majority has a, severance
craze begins to lighten.
To refine more this observation, it is necessary to distinguish the number of
people and the number of accounts per person on a SN. It is possible that the same
person has more than an account. 60 % of the Moroccans possess only one account on
their favorite network and 31 % two accounts while only 9 % created more than 3
accounts on the same network. The fact that the majority of the Moroccan members of
the SN have only a single account on their favorite network can be interpreted by the
fact that the latter use him only for normal and healthy reasons such as to establish the
contact with their close friends, to share photos, articles or video, to participate or to
create events etc.
However, to have several accounts on a SN can have as purpose to create several
different profiles to attract various categories of people either give to the administrator
the opportunity to act freely under an anonymous profile without having to be afraid
of being judged by people who know him. And nevertheless, a good part (43%)
asserts that these networks do not protect their confidentiality. Indeed, a SN creates an
open space which gives to the general public access to the personal information of his
members what makes them vulnerable, even if only 6 % are persuaded that they never
publish what reveals their real personality. This is apparently seems the reason why
the number of "friends" per person rest globally moderate. 40 % postulated to have

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less than 200 friends on their favorite SN while a 4 % minority show a number
exceeding 800 friends.
The frequency of attendance as well as that of publications in its SN is reasonable.
The third of our sample asserts going from one to several times a day and 38 % more
than 3 hours in their SN, while 49 % admit to publish only very rarely. does not
necessarily sifngifie active participation, it may be limited to a kind of voyeurism
favored by new technological communication media [17] [18].
It seems that it became necessary to be present on the SN, or rather not to be
absent. Some create an account or him are created by somebody, often of the family
(children, brothers or sisters) without being capable of knowing how to use it or to
follow it. Others limit themselves to basic or summary fonctions as "I like" or "Share"
Among the reasons which prevent the small minority (3 %) from using the SN there
are two main reasons: the lack of time and the misunderstanding of use.
Table 1 Fame and preference of the SN in Morocco
Type

SN

K*

F*

Ratio F/K

Generalists

FB
Tw
WhatsApp
Google+
Tumblr
Linkedin
Viadeo
Xing
Plaxo
Autre

96%
82%
78%
55%
6%
56%
43%
3%
1%
20%

80%
29%
77%
5%
3%
17%
12%
2%
1%
13%

83%
35%
99%
9%
50%
30%
28%
67%
100%
65%

Professionals

* K: Known F: Favorite

The ratio F/K shows that WhatsApp remains the way the most appreciated by
Moroccans who know it (99 %), essentially for his free access and its services
(exchanges of messages and audio-visual documents). When the Moroccan telephone
operators, Maroc Telecom, Mditel and Inwi, wanted to censor it for competitive
damage, a wave of contesting exploded via the SN. The Moroccans went as far as
threatening to cancel contracts with these operators if we touch WhatAapp. The
operators eventually obeyed.
Table 2 Comparative Findings between Fb and Tw
Characteristics of Fb
A general vocabulary
A relaxed climate
Share internally
Dialogue in public
Focus on Building
Keep its data also
Keep her community
Too much publicity
Post regularly

Characteristics of Tw
Short sentences, richer vocabulary
A more serious climate
Share outward
Dialogue often in private
Loyalty sharing
Keep data of the others
Volatile Community
No advertising
Post even more

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Positioning of The New Means of Communication and Information: Empirical Study on The
Social Networks In Morocco

In the major part of the cases, the Internet users do not go on Fb for the same
reasons as on Tw. While the biggest SN of the world offers rather an aspect
"distractif" to its users, Tw attracts consumers more centred on the search for realtime information.. And that changes everything! We often find an Internet user on
both networks, nevertheless, expectations are different; ; that is why his way of
sharing information should be too.
To read these two maps made through the correspondence analysis, please read
the ABC and D dials initially separately. Using lies to both lower extremities (low
with negative sign) and upper (high with + sign). Fame is the same.
Figure 12 Positioning of Fb and Tw per fame

The figure 12 shows the positions both bigger SN with the profiles of those who
know them: they are very different from those of the use except for some profiles as
the students who remain coherent in their answers between knowledge and use.
Their higher level of education (91%), their celibacy (85%) and urban origin
(92%) reinforces them a real sense of freedom and openness to the world.
Finally, note that the fame does not sginifie the use. The fact of knowing a SN is
not synonymic of its use. But there is a correlation: I cannot use that what I know,
otherwise, as soon as I use, I know. The opposite is not true. It is what show both
figures 12 and 13.

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Figure 13 Positioning of Fb and Tw per using

5. CONCLUSION
The NTIC are diverse and multiple. We entered the digital era pushed not by Internet,
but by its massive adoption by the public and the changes of lifestyle and
consumption which this plebiscite caused [9]. The SN occupies a major place there.
With the SN, the real revolution upsets in a radical way the ecosystem of the
media and the communication of our societies. Internet and the social media
individualized and democratized the access to real time diffusable contents in the
global scale. Today, the consumers of information also produce and publishers who
can enter in competition with the traditional broadcasting stations, the brands or the
public authorities [19].
At the beginning they were many but with the massive arrival more and more
users, they begin to position. In Morocco, big two SN distances itself: Fb and Tw.
They are different but complementary.
One of the weaknesses of this study is not to have dedicated enough space for
comparisons with the positioning of these networks in other countries. The article
could inspire other wills to develop this work which could have a more universal
diension. The article could inspire other wills to develop this work which could have a
more universal dimension.
The article could inspire other researches to develop this aspect and have a more
universal dimension. We hope that our contribution allowed to place clearly the
positioning of the SN by fame and use with the profiles of the connoisseurs and the
users.

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Social Networks In Morocco

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