ABSTRACT
Today, Saudi Arabia is per capita the world's biggest user of the video-sharing site YouTube and micro-blogging site Twitter. The growth of the Internet and, in particular, social media use by Saudis is intimately and inherently connected to the emergence of new types of online content that Saudis have created in going online, and that have been created in order to satisfy the demands of the new media audience. This chapter explores the products of the small, professional new media production companies that dominate the new Saudi media (NSM) space. Recounting the origins of the new Saudi media is helpful in placing it within the context of Saudi society. As media entertainment made by Saudis for Saudis, NSM content trades heavily on localness, drawing its humour from its intimate familiarity with the everyday experience of Saudi Arabia while at the same time trying to transcend traditional rivalries between different parts of t.
