By Mohammad Al-Merdas
KUWAIT, Sept 27 (KUNA) -- Social media plays an integral role in the lives of people, providing with services that connect them socially, update them on the recent happenings in the world, and also enable them to sell various products, including fish.
The fact that people are selling fish online might be odd; however, it is happening in Kuwait and through social media tools like Twitter, Instagram, and Whatsapp, fish could be delivered to your door step within a few hours.
Speaking to KUNA in a number of interviews, fishmongers and consumers said that using media was a convenient idea, which saves both time and in many occasions money.
Fisherman Mohammad Mataqi said that he used instagram to sell his product as a mean to provide freshly-caught fish to the consumers without the involvement of the market.
He said that he began his business through selling fish to his relatives and then expanded his operation to provide fish to whomever pleases through his Instagram account.
Similarly, a fisherman by the name of Osama said that he also started using social media to sell fish, indicating that he preferred to use Twitter.
Jumping on the bandwagon, fish companies started to use social media to attract customers.
An official at a local fish company, preferred not to be named, said that there was a huge demand for fish through social media sites, affirming that business on that level was going smooth.
On the consumers' part, Khaled Al-Saleh said that prices of fish online were not that different from the market, but affirmed that there was much flexibility in bargaining for fish using social media.
The fact that social media plays a strong role in the fish market had led fishermen to go to houses or social gatherings to sell their products.
Senior citizen, Ali Al-Failikawi said that he liked to buy fish through social media tools, noting that the fishermen would come to their houses with their catch of the day without the complications of going to the market and metaphorically "fighting" for the best price.
Of course it is not all "sunshine and rainbows" when discussing social media and fish marketing. Some individuals loath the fact that some people were using technology to sell fish.
Nasser Al-Azmi, a retaired army official, said that going to the fish market was a tradition that must be upheld for the sake of future generations. He said that he was against using social media which he thinks would affect the relation between consumers and sellers.
Whether it was bad or good, the social media arm had extend itself to reach the fish market, revolutionizing how people would get their products and that, without a doubt, is an indication that the world is continuously changing. (end) mma.gta