DUBAI: YouTube has concluded its weeklong iftar cooking challenge #MatbakhYouTube (YouTube Kitchen), which brought together nine creators from Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Syria, Palestine, Kuwait, Egypt, Iraq and Lebanon to prepare an iftar meal from April 25 to May 3.
The challenge kicked off with the Anasala family, who posted the first video on April 25, in which their daughter Mila helped prepare the iftar meal for the day. At the end of each video, the creator passed the chef’s hat on to another creator.
The nine who participated in the challenge are the Anasalas, BJ Life, Meshael MR, Mohamed Moshaya, Estube Gaming, Droos Online, Noor Stars, Azza Zarour and Lama Shreif.
The creators come from different backgrounds covering a variety of topics including beauty, lifestyle, gaming and comedy.
They range from smaller creators with about 400,000 subscribers such as Meshael MR and Moshaya, to bigger ones such as the Anasalas with 11 million and Noor Stars with 17 million.
“Coming together virtually, and collaborating with other creators to spark joy amongst our viewers, who might be going through difficult times, means a lot to me,” Zarour told Arab News.
The objective was to create a sense of togetherness among the YouTube creator community. “To many of us, this is the second Ramadan spent under varying degrees of COVID-19 restrictions,” Tarek Amin, YouTube director for the Middle East and North Africa, told Arab News.
“This means that many people are still unable to take part in that essential Ramadan tradition of coming together over iftar.”
Moshaya said: “We felt a special connection with the other YouTubers involved since we all had to do this together. The kids in particular found it entertaining looking up yummy dishes on YouTube and attempting to make them.”
The lockdowns had people spending more time online looking for everything from virtual events to cooking and meditation.
Viewership of educational videos on YouTube witnessed an increase; watch time of science and math videos increased by 200 percent, said Amin.
In Saudi Arabia, 95 percent of people watched DIY content, and 94 percent said they used online resources to watch or access educational content, according to research by Ipsos MORI.
More and more creators are crafting content specifically for the holy month, Amin said. “The Ramadan vlogs and routines have always been there, but we’re seeing creators produce their own versions of Ramadan shows,” he added.
“In 2019 and 2020, the Saudi Reporters released ‘Boodi and Zouzou,’ a fantasy animation about the two brothers, and in 2021 Hadeel Marei released her series-style show ‘Musalsal Kabsa,’ which follows her in her journey to fame.”
This is resulting in “more advertisers embracing the power of advanced audiences on YouTube by activating better targeting methods and launching more personalized ads,” said Amin.
