It may not have the fun and games of Facebook or the cachet of LinkedIn, but Rony el Nashar is hoping Intheloop.me, his Middle East-centred social networking website, can have a big impact in the Arab world.
Mr el Nashar launched Intheloop, which targets professionals and executives, just three months ago. He says the website has more than 6,000 users who were attracted by word of mouth and web advertising.
Other Arab-based social networking sites such as Talasim and Maktoob have had success, while YallaStartup and ArabCrunch.net, a pair of technology-specific social networks, have also emerged in the past few months.
Online social networks can be popular with advertisers, who see them as a way to easily direct their advertising to specific audiences. The Arab online advertising market is set to expand as much as 60 per cent this year to about US$100 million (Dh367.2m), participants forecast.
Mr el Nashar used his own money to pay for the design and programming of the website once he finished writing a business plan. Once Intheloop was launched, he advertised on Facebook and Google to attract users.
He said his site differed from LinkedIn, which also catered to professionals, by providing a more regional offering.
"On LinkedIn, my network is generally not here. They're in Europe or in the US," Mr el Nashar said. "I rarely communicate with those people and I'm not getting much value from that network.
"The network I do get value from are people close to me in the UAE, or in the GCC."
Mr el Nashar's minimal marketing has paid off, as his website's users - senior executives, entrepreneurs and other businessmen - view it as an opportunity to network with like-minded peers.
Still, Intheloop's user base is tiny compared with its global counterparts. Facebook says it has more than 350 million users worldwide after launching in 2004, while LinkedIn says it has added more than 50 million registered users since 2003.
"Social networks grow by word of mouth," said Mr el Nashar, a venture capitalist based in Abu Dhabi. "You have added incentive to use it in a professional context because the larger your network is, the more you'll benefit."
A premium subscription model that will cost between $10 and $20 will be introduced this month.
Mr el Nashar declined to say how much he had spent on his website.
Prashant Gulati, the president of the Dubai chapter of The Indus Entrepreneurs, a not-for-profit international business mentoring and networking group, said that as the Middle East online world matured, it would provide more opportunities for ventures such as Intheloop.
"For all the bashing that comes up with Facebook and MySpace, usually you'll never find anyone say anything bad about LinkedIn," Mr Gulati said.
"People use LinkedIn for serious discussion and networking. And for something as serious as [Intheloop] in the region, its time has come."
Manal Sarah Ibrahim, a civil engineer based in Doha, signed up with Intheloop about two months ago. She uses the website to network with potential employers.
"These days, you can't get connected by people on the street anymore," Ms Ibrahim said. "At the moment I feel stuck with my profession, so I have been looking to make connections for other jobs on the website."
Mr Gulati said that Intheloop's organic growth could be very slow until investments were made to improve its credibility. The website's "about" section simply lists a basic overview and a one-line description of Mr el Nashar.
"The problem with these people is that when you don't put a detailed 'about' section, serious people will not put serious profiles," Mr Gulati said.
Mr el Nashar said he was prepared to put more time and resources into building the website.
And he is set to sign his first investment deal with an unnamed investor by the end of this month that he said would provide more capital to help attract users.
@Email:dgeorgecosh@thenational.ae
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Gender equality in the workplace still 200 years away
It will take centuries to achieve gender parity in workplaces around the globe, according to a December report from the World Economic Forum.
The WEF study said there had been some improvements in wage equality in 2018 compared to 2017, when the global gender gap widened for the first time in a decade.
But it warned that these were offset by declining representation of women in politics, coupled with greater inequality in their access to health and education.
At current rates, the global gender gap across a range of areas will not close for another 108 years, while it is expected to take 202 years to close the workplace gap, WEF found.
The Geneva-based organisation's annual report tracked disparities between the sexes in 149 countries across four areas: education, health, economic opportunity and political empowerment.
After years of advances in education, health and political representation, women registered setbacks in all three areas this year, WEF said.
Only in the area of economic opportunity did the gender gap narrow somewhat, although there is not much to celebrate, with the global wage gap narrowing to nearly 51 per cent.
And the number of women in leadership roles has risen to 34 per cent globally, WEF said.
At the same time, the report showed there are now proportionately fewer women than men participating in the workforce, suggesting that automation is having a disproportionate impact on jobs traditionally performed by women.
And women are significantly under-represented in growing areas of employment that require science, technology, engineering and mathematics skills, WEF said.
* Agence France Presse
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At a glance - Zayed Sustainability Prize 2020
Launched: 2008
Categories: Health, energy, water, food, global high schools
Prize: Dh2.2 million (Dh360,000 for global high schools category)
Winners’ announcement: Monday, January 13
Impact in numbers
335 million people positively impacted by projects
430,000 jobs created
10 million people given access to clean and affordable drinking water
50 million homes powered by renewable energy
6.5 billion litres of water saved
26 million school children given solar lighting
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%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDirectors%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EVarious%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarring%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Nicola%20Coughlan%2C%20Luke%20Newton%2C%20Jonathan%20Bailey%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E3%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
The years Ramadan fell in May
GOLF’S RAHMBO
- 5 wins in 22 months as pro
- Three wins in past 10 starts
- 45 pro starts worldwide: 5 wins, 17 top 5s
- Ranked 551th in world on debut, now No 4 (was No 2 earlier this year)
- 5th player in last 30 years to win 3 European Tour and 2 PGA Tour titles before age 24 (Woods, Garcia, McIlroy, Spieth)
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%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDisplay%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%2041mm%2C%20352%20x%20430%3B%2045mm%2C%20396%20x%20484%3B%20Retina%20LTPO%20OLED%2C%20up%20to%201000%20nits%2C%20always-on%3B%20Ion-X%20glass%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EProcessor%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Apple%20S8%2C%20W3%20wireless%2C%20U1%20ultra-wideband%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ECapacity%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%2032GB%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EMemory%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%201GB%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EPlatform%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20watchOS%209%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EHealth%20metrics%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%203rd-gen%20heart%20rate%20sensor%2C%20temperature%20sensing%2C%20ECG%2C%20blood%20oxygen%2C%20workouts%2C%20fall%2Fcrash%20detection%3B%20emergency%20SOS%2C%20international%20emergency%20calling%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EConnectivity%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20GPS%2FGPS%20%2B%20cellular%3B%20Wi-Fi%2C%20LTE%2C%20Bluetooth%205.3%2C%20NFC%20(Apple%20Pay)%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDurability%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20IP6X%2C%20water%20resistant%20up%20to%2050m%2C%20dust%20resistant%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EBattery%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20308mAh%20Li-ion%2C%20up%20to%2018h%2C%20wireless%20charging%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ECards%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20eSIM%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EFinishes%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Aluminium%20%E2%80%93%20midnight%2C%20Product%20Red%2C%20silver%2C%20starlight%3B%20stainless%20steel%20%E2%80%93%20gold%2C%20graphite%2C%20silver%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EIn%20the%20box%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Watch%20Series%208%2C%20magnetic-to-USB-C%20charging%20cable%2C%20band%2Floop%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EPrice%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Starts%20at%20Dh1%2C599%20(41mm)%20%2F%20Dh1%2C999%20(45mm)%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Abu Dhabi GP Saturday schedule
12.30pm GP3 race (18 laps)
2pm Formula One final practice
5pm Formula One qualifying
6.40pm Formula 2 race (31 laps)
The National's picks
4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
5.10pm: Continous
5.45pm: Raging Torrent
6.20pm: West Acre
7pm: Flood Zone
7.40pm: Straight No Chaser
8.15pm: Romantic Warrior
8.50pm: Calandogan
9.30pm: Forever Young
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COMPANY PROFILE
Company name: Letstango.com
Started: June 2013
Founder: Alex Tchablakian
Based: Dubai
Industry: e-commerce
Initial investment: Dh10 million
Investors: Self-funded
Total customers: 300,000 unique customers every month
Zayed Sustainability Prize
The five pillars of Islam
A list of the animal rescue organisations in the UAE
How do Sim card scams work?
Sim swap frauds are a form of identity theft.
They involve criminals conning mobile phone operators into issuing them with replacement Sim cards by claiming to be the victim, often pretending their phone has been lost or stolen in order to secure a new Sim.
They use the victim's personal details - obtained through criminal methods - to convince such companies of their identity.
The criminal can then access any online service that requires security codes to be sent to a user's mobile phone, such as banking services.
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Dir: R Balki
Starring: Akshay Kumar, Sonam Kapoor, Radhika Apte
Three-and-a-half stars
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Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
