Academy to enhance skills of social media influencers in UAE

UAE social media influencers have welcomed the launch of New Media Academy stressing that it will help build a new generation of professionals equipped with digital media skills and content creation capabilities.
Dr Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, Minister of State and the Chairman of UAE National Media Council (NMC), said the New Media Academy represents a qualitative addition to the media sector that contributes to enhancing the skills of young cadres and empowering them with knowledge and expertise. "The initiative enhances the opportunities associated with the new media industry, by creating a new generation of influencers who will highlight the country's achievements and promote the spread of UAE messages in accordance with the best global practices," he said.
The academy will train media professionals in the public and private sector and develop social media content creators in addition to providing job opportunities and supporting the development process.
Through digital masterclasses, the New Media Academy will provide a broad range of career-oriented educational programs to nurture social media content creators and develop them into innovative resources in digital marketing and social media.
"This is a great initiative. The new media academy will help streamline the social media profession by equipping bloggers with good communication and marketing skills and how to create the best content," said Munther Al Muzakki, a popular Emirati social media influencer.
"Many bloggers are using social media without proper training on how to go about the content. Some bloggers speak about subjects they don't have much knowledge. Training will help influencers specialise in content creation," said Al Muzakki, 40, who has a huge following on Twitter and Instagram.
Another Emirati influencer, Ali Saleh Al Jaber, popularly known as 'Bin Swelah' said the new academy will transform the digital media into a robust professional career and create more job opportunities for the youngsters. "UAE bloggers will now have a government training centre from where they can learn digital media and marketing skills and this will promote our profession," he said, adding that many social media influencers lack the necessary training.
Bin Swelah, 24, is also a comedian has more than 900,000 followers on Instagram and 100,000 subscribers for his YouTube channel. He said he will enroll to the new academy as soon as the registration opens.
"The launch of the online learning academy that issues an internationally recognised certificate to graduates on completion of their programme is a great milestone in the digital media and will professionalise the use of social media for business," said Omar Hassan Alali, another UAE blogger.
ismail@khaleejtimes.com 

• Abu Dhabi

Ismail Sebugwaawo

ismail@khaleejtimes.com