Manama: A Kuwaiti minister has made an unusual step into social media networking by joining a WhatsApp group to communicate with members of the local media.
Hind Al Subaih, the minister of social affairs and labour and state minister for planning and development, said that she joined the Whatsapp group of media people, set up by the ministry’s public relations department, as part of her commitment to “transparency and credibility”.
The smart phone instant messaging service allows users to send texts, photos and videos to one another.
Whatsapp and similar applications have gained a huge following since 2012, when phone users, led by teenagers, migrated towards the service that allows several people to communicate at once and use emoticons, photos and videos.
“My aim in joining the Whatsapp local media group is based on reinforcing the principle of transparency within the ministry so that everybody can see our work,” the minister, appointed three weeks ago, said.
“There is nothing that we fear or that we wish to hide. I am keen on following up the communication by the public relations department with the members of the media and the media outlets. I am also keen on seeing the remarks and observations that these media people contribute so that we can assess the situation and work on moving forward in enhancing our performances,” she said, quoted by local daily Al Rai on Wednesday.
The minister added that she looked at her work as a responsibility to be assumed with competence. “Our duty as officials is to root the principle that positions are assignments and not a matter of grace,” she said.
“Whoever is given such a precious trust has to work on improving and advancing the services provided by his or her ministry,” she told the daily.
The minister said that the Whatsapp option will allow her to see the reports and news that the public relations department sends to the members of the media. “I will also be able to see the questions, queries and observations that the print and broadcast media are asking or making,” she said.
