The virtual world known as cyberspace enjoys the distinction of being one of the Kingdom’s leading outlets for escapism and communication. And the most popular place to surf the web is not at home but the cybercafe, the 21st century’s contribution to cultural evolution.
The Internet has been available to the public here since 1999, and the numbers of users are growing at 20 percent annually.
It is estimated that there are between 500,000 to 600,000 Internet users in Saudi Arabia today, 78 percent of whom are male aged between 24 and 31. They who spend an average of 3.5 hours a day surfing the Net.
With the public’s embrace of the Net, local businessmen were quick to capitalize on the cybercafe as a place to meet, greet, socialize and surf. There are over 200 cybercafes in the Kingdom today, and their number continues to grow. These cafes have become a place of solace and entertainment for youth, a place where they can express themselves, interact with others, or just have a cup of coffee and relax.
Fahad, a 19-year-old college student, says that before these Internet cafes all he could do in his free time was cruise in cars with his friends.
"It got boring after a while, and then the Internet arrived," he says while sipping on a cup of tea. "Now I surf the web a lot, at least a few hours a day, which bothers my parents a bit, so I leave and go to an Internet cafe, I guess I’m a bit of an addict."
Fahad claims that he loves the communication aspect of the Net. "I get to chat with girls, friends who are overseas, plus I get to download my favorite Arabic music for free. I haven’t been to a music store for a couple of years."
One of the most popular cybercafes in Jeddah is the Millennium cafe. With an art decor and wide screen TV, it has become one of the places to be.
Arab News spoke with Millennium’s General Manager Baleegh Mahdi about the cafe’s appeal. "We’ve been in business for two and a half years, and our location and services are the reasons for our success. When we first started our prices were considered expensive at SR50 an hour, so in order to compete we slashed it down to SR20."
When asked about the typical Millennium customer, Mahdi had this to say: "It depends on the season and the time of day. During the day we get older people that like to come in, read the local paper, have something to eat, then use our computers to read the international online newspapers like the Washington Post. At night and weekends, the younger generation takes over."
What do Saudi youths use the Net for?
"Mostly for leisure and entertainment activities," according to Mahdi. "In many ways it’s an outlet for them to vent their frustration, and of course there’s the chatting."
The kids like to interact with people over the Net, and the websites they most frequent are Casanova, Alibaba and Al-Saha. They all have Yahoo and Hotmail accounts, said Mahdi.
Activities internet cafes provide, besides the Net and snacks, is satellite big screen TV, which has been utilized over the past three weeks for the World Cup.
"Some cafes are charging customers a fee to see the games, but we haven’t done that," Mahdi says. "But we have seen a dramatic drop in computer use. Most of our revenue has suddenly been generated from food consumption".