MINA — Snapchat has proved to be number one social media tools preferred by the pilgrims when it comes to taking pictures and videos, Al-Hayat daily reported. Several pilgrims were seen taking live videos of the Haj rituals and sending them to their family members and friends. Ehab Al-Aqili, 26 from Jordan, said from the moment he set foot on King Abdulaziz International Airport, he started taking videos and pictures of everything around him to keep his followers posted about his journey to Haj. “My wife is sick and could not come with me. I'm documenting everything for her. Snapchat is the best choice for me when it comes to recording videos,” he said. Mahmoud Abu Yousif, 34 from Egypt, said he has sent around 50 videos a day since he arrived at the holy sites. He has around 400 followers including family and friends, who love to see live Haj coverage. Wesam Asqlan, a computer engineer, said Snapchat allows users to add texts and make some changes to the videos and pictures they send over to their followers. The videos and pictures can be viewed once only and after that the follower cannot open them. Snapchat has a video chat feature as well. Sheikh Saad Al-Fayez, a dawah activist, said there is no harm in taking pictures and videos in the holy sites but such action should not distract pilgrims from the main Haj rites. A pilgrim should focus on performing these rites and try very hard not to get distracted. Snapchat is used by 100 million people around the world, 70 percent of them women, the majority of whom are younger than 21 years old. Last Ramadan, a number of Saudis asked Snapchat Company to add the stream Makkah on “Lailat Al-Qadr” or the Night of Power and the company agreed and started the stream.
