Facebook profile: The Middle East.

• Position: GRAPH: INTERNATIONAL

Earlier this year, demonstrators in the Middle East used social media to organize the Arab Spring revolutions. Now, young Israelis and Palestinians are reaching out to each other on Facebook in an attempt to jump-start the stalled peace process there [see article, p. 16). Can communication via Facebook bring political and social change to the Middle East? Use this bar graph of Facebook usage in the Middle East to decide for yourself.

[GRAPHIC OMITTED]

ANALYZE THE GRAPH

(1) Fifty percent of the U.S. population uses Facebook. In which Middle Eastern nation is the percentage even higher?

a Israel.

b Turkey

c Bahrain

d United Arab Emirates

The percentage of Israelis using Facebook is about--points higher than the percentage of Palestinians using Facebook.

a 8

b 12

c 20

d 28

(3) Yemen has about 240,000 Facebook users. You can infer that its population is

a under 10 million.

b over 30 million.

c about 24 million.

d about 50 million.

(4) Tunisia, an Arab country in North Africa, has 10.5 million people and 2.7 million Facebook users. If it were added to the graph, it would be

a between Palestinian Territories and Saudi Arabia

b between Iraq and Oman.

c between Israel. and Cyprus.

d next to Bahrain.

(5) Turkey has more Facebook users than any other nation in the Middle East. You can infer that its population is

a the same as the United Arab Emirates'.

b larger than Israel's.

c smaller than Iraq's.

d skyrocketing.

ANSWERS

(1) [d] United Arab Emirates

(2) [c] 20

(3) [c] about 24 million.

(4) [a] between Palestinian Territories and Saudi Arabia.

(5) [b] larger than Israel's.

DISCUSSION...