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YouTube, Tiktok help low-income families survive in Egypt

Low-income Egyptian families have discovered a way to make money via video-steaming platforms like YouTube and Tiktok.
Menna Ayman, Salem Massalha, Shehab el-Dien, Alban Menonville, and Nader Meleika members of the Egyptian startup business, Bassita, work at their office in Cairo on April 12, 2016. 

Bassita, which means "simple" in Arabic, is harnessing the growing Internet penetration in the country and raising funds through social networking campaigns. It posts photos and videos of micro-development projects, and sponsors undertake the funding once a certain number of shares and "likes" are raised.

 / AFP / KHALED DESOU

CAIRO — More Egyptian families of low-income and working‐class backgrounds have discovered video-sharing platforms such as YouTube and TikTok as a means of income. While adhering to stay-at-home guidance to combat the COVID-19 pandemic, amateur content creators have been producing short videos of their daily routines.

In this most populous Arab country, around 32.5% of the population lives in conditions of extreme poverty, according to the statistical institution CAMPAS. Many low-income households have found salvation in video blogs. By using basic and accessible tools — a mobile phone camera and a good internet connection — they have been able to tap into the advertising revenue of video-streaming platforms.

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