Interaction of 'X' Platform Users in Critiquing Saudi Drama Works: An Analytical Study of the Series 'Jaybh Al’eyd'

Abstract

The television drama industry in Saudi Arabia has undergone profound qualitative transformations in response to Vision 2030, which has placed special emphasis on the performing arts and strengthened the presence and standing of the drama industry. The series “Jaybat Al-Eid,” which has been available on Netflix since 2023, serves as a model of Saudi production in the field of drama series. This study examines audience engagement with the series “Jaybat Al-Eid” on the X platform (formerly Twitter). The researchers employed a qualitative methodology using thematic analysis and sentiment analysis, based on a purposive sample of 90 posts on X that all included the hashtag #Jaybat Al-Eid and the phrase “Jaybat Al-Eid series” in Arabic language. The results indicate that audience interaction concentrated around key themes: evaluation of the artistic work in terms of plot, direction, and acting performance; social and cultural issues—most notably mixed marriage, divorce and custody issues. As for sentiment analysis, 64.4% of tweets were positive, 28.8% were negative, and only 6.6% were neutral. Positive tweets received the highest level of engagement—approximately 85.3%—compared with negative and neutral tweets. The study recommends that future research examine audience engagement with Saudi dramas across various digital platforms such as TikTok, YouTube, and others. This paper constitutes a qualitative contribution to understanding audience interaction on digital media platforms and its role in critiquing local dramatic works.