Within the cultural and scientific activity of the faculty members of the Department of Media at the College of Social Sciences, a lecture was held entitled: "The Relationship of the Saudi Society to the New Media," delivered by Dr. Fouad Buqas.

In this lecture, Dr. Buqas reviewed the historical changes and scientific theories of communication and media patterns, from traditional media to social media and smart devices. Then he tackled some statistics and studies on the use of the internet, social media sites and mobiles in Saudi Arabia compared to global use. In addition, he pointed out that the statistics proved that Saudi Arabia ranks first with regard to the highest number of applications and social media sites, such as Twitter, Snapchat, etc.

He explained some positive and negative aspects of the frequent use of these sites. As for positive aspects, the Saudi community has become a vital society that interacts with the daily changes, keeps pace with technological developments, and is able to communicate its voice to the world. Moreover, the Saudi people have become creative in the production of different media content on social media sites. He mentioned some examples of YouTube channels, such as: Sa7i, Telfaz, etc.

But at the same time, Dr. Buqas reminded us of some of the negative aspects. The frequent use of such sites has made citizens addicted; the Saudi citizen spends 6 to 8 hours a day on the Internet and on mobile devices. This may cause some physical and social diseases.

He also stressed the importance of screen time limits for young people by parents and educational authorities. In addition, he clarified that the extensive usage of such applications wastes the energies and time of young people. He also stressed that a large percentage of users of the communication sites are children.، This may cause them to fall prey to cyber moral crimes and be affected by hostile currents and rumors.

Finally, Dr. Fouad Buqas said that he expects the percentage of people using social media sites will decrease in the coming days, especially if there are no new competitive applications. He stressed that there is some boredom and monotony in what is presented on social media. An example of this assumption is the reluctance of members of the Saudi society to use Facebook, and the decrease in its number users, which has almost halved. He also expected that there will be a major role for media institutions, if their content is presented in a new and different manner. He cited examples of Western media such as CNN and the BBC.

He also mentioned that the future will be for paid platforms such as Netflix, and soon Disney, etc. Finally, Dr. Buqas expected a new technological revolution that may change the course of communication between people and the media in the coming years.

At the end of the lecture, His Excellency the Head of the Department, Dr. Salim Ali Salim Uraijah, commented on the course topic, commending the lecture and the good choice of the lecturer, due to the importance of the subject for the contemporary stage. He also thanked the faculty and students for attendance. He emphasized the continuation of this activity, because of its role in creating scientific and cultural interaction between students and the academic staff.