On the world wide web, particularly on social media websites such as Twitter and Facebook, the situation is a bit different as some users still use Twitter hash tags #Hajj and #Eid to broadcast greetings and sometimes prayers to the cyber world, before the trend fades away completely.
During the Haj season, a large number of the social media websites were constantly tweeting their Haj progress within the holy land, and there was instantaneous feedback and comments from other Twitter users. The linking was complete.
After completion of their Haj, with their own experiences flying about on Twitter or posted on their Facebook accounts or community pages, the use of social media continued well into the Eid greetings.
Arab News observed around Eid, greetings were sent right from the center of the holy land in Makkah. Anyone wanting to tap into the stream could just follow Twitter’s hash tags #Hajj and #Eid, and see live feedbacks of thousands of people from all over the world tweeting Eid greetings to one another and to the world.
On the social media website, Twitter users commented on how amazing an experience it was to be part of that huge live online community sharing greetings and photos from the holy land during the holiday seasons.
“Using Twitter during Eid, and during seasonal holidays, amplifies the effect of theses tweeted greetings. When you send these greetings and add a hash tag such as #Eid you know there are at least thousands following that hash tag, and they will read it and hopefully will respond or ‘retweet’ your words, and also keep the trend alive,” said Marwan, a 23-year-old Twitter user in Jeddah.
Several Twitter users told Arab News, that they liked using the social media on such occasions to get as much exposure to their messages, and since these services are free and easily accessible it adds to their appeal.
“There is a tradition happening here among some family members and friends, almost every Friday people use their cell phone to send Friday greetings and wishes and prayers to each other,” said Abeer, a 26-year-old social media user.
She added, “However, it is much cheaper to use Twitter or Facebook to post a greeting to your friends, than sending a traditional SMS messages through your cell phone, or using a BlackBerry device. I guess the impact is also more positive since these messages are shared with the world.”
However, some have wondered whether such online trends are just a passing fad, temporary to the time and to the technology.
“It is hard to predict if social media usage for holiday seasonal greetings will fade anytime soon, especially when smart cell phones allow constant connection with these services which are free, and people’s access to these devices are easy. I guess for the time being it will continue till something new comes out,” said Marwan.
