Shaikh Mohammed is biggest climber on Twitter chart

With 2.4 million followers on his Twitter account, the UAE Vice-President’s twitter fame goes from strength to strength.

His Highness Shaikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, who promoted the ‘ThankYou_Khalifa’ campaign over the medium, has climbed from number 10 in the Twitter world leader ranking in 2012 to seventh spot in 2013, according to the fourth annual rankings of the use of social media among world leaders, published by the Digital Policy Council.

Shaikh Mohammed’s followers increased by 1.4 million over 2012 to reach 2.4 million in 2013, making the biggest climb in the Twitter rankings amongst world leaders, showing the close bond between him and the citizens and residents of UAE.

For the second year in a row, US President Barack Obama took the number one slot, gaining 16 million followers last year alone, to now have a combined following of more than 40 million.

Shabbir Adamji, the founder and CEO of Dubai social media promotion company Go Mad, said Shaikh Mohammed’s presence on Twitter stemmed from his eagerness to express his opinions on regional and international issues.

“The way Twitter works has a lot to do with passing on messages to the masses. The channel of communication is open and effective and Shaikh Mohammed has used this feature of Twitter to his advantage.”

Adamji said Shaikh Mohammed instantly uploaded the city’s developmental goals and achievements on Twitter, which in turn made him a very approachable leader, especially to younger Twitter users.

“As a role model for the youth, Shaikh Mohammed has used Twitter in a very effective manner where people are able to communicate with him and get a direct, real time feedback to their queries and comments. It becomes a sort of open communication platform between him and the public.”

Some of Shaikh Mohammed’s biggest moments on Twitter include the UaeBrainstorm# campaign, the successful DubaiExpo2020 bid, and the #ThankYouKhalifa hashtag. In November 2013, Shaikh Mohammed launched a Twitter campaign called UAE Brainstorm#. The campaign received an overwhelming response from over 65,000 Twitter users.

“We want every man, woman and child to join us in the biggest ever national brainstorm session to find new ideas for health and education- #Uaebrainstorm.”

The ThankYou Khalifa campaign was launched to express gratitude to the President, His Highness Shaikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, on the occasion of his accession day. The tweet received a flood of responses from Twitter users.

dhanusha@khaleejtimes.com