Dubai: The social media following of His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, has reached more than six million across all channels.
Shaikh Mohammad on Saturday said on Twitter that his social media followers exceeded three million on Twitter, two million on Facebook and one million on both Instagram and Google+.
“I extend my thanks to all followers and to everyone interacting with us through providing new comments, suggestions and ideas,” Shaikh Mohammad tweeted.
Shaikh Mohammad has used social media, especially Twitter, as a platform to engage his followers, particularly when it concerns drafting policies for his people.
“Social media channels created new opportunities, removed all barriers and made the audience part of our development plans,” he said, adding: “Having a tremendous influence, today social media channels serve as an open parliament and cannot be ignored or misled.”
This rise in Shaikh Mohammad’s following is not surprising as he is the world’s seventh most followed head of state on Twitter who uses it for citizen engagement.
His ranking was based on a study of 167 countries by latest World Leaders on Twitter Ranking Report by the US Digital Policy Council (DPC), an international think tank group that promotes good governance and policy-making.
The December 2013 report said Shaikh Mohammad jumped up three spots from the year before which saw his account grow by one million in just one year.
“His Twitter presence of 2.4 million followers [as of December 2013] is punctuated by his eagerness to express his opinion and comment on both regional and global issues, as well as his openness to the world’s different cultures,” the report read.
Shaikh Mohammad, who started using Twitter in 2009, had 351,817 followers in DPC’s report in 2010. This number increased to 445,725 by 2011, and has more than doubled to 1.3 million in just three years. He reached a milestone of 2 million followers in 2013. He also started using Facebook in 2009.
Shaikh Mohammad, over the past years, has used Twitter to make important announcements, results from a meeting, or invitation to a national meeting, including the biggest national brainstorming session to find new ideas for health and education. He engaged non-participating citizens to pitch their ideas by using the hashtag #uaebrainstorm for citizens to tweet to as they submitted their ideas.
Shaikh Mohammad’s Google + page that was launched earlier this year in February is now followed by more than 600,000 people. His Google + page focuses on projects and various works in details.
As for Instagram, Shaikh Mohammad’s followers have topped half a million followers.
Shaikh Mohammad stressed that social network pages have opened doors, pulled down barriers, developed works and made the public a part of the development process.
Shaikh Mohammad thanked all his followers and expressed his appreciation to those who interacted with his social network pages through extending suggestions, ideas and notes.
He also pointed out the importance of continuous communication with people via social networking sites.
He added that “social networking sites have become today’s most important media outlet in communicating with the public for them to take part in local, Arab, and international development initiatives”.
Shaikh Mohammad added that the number of six million people following his pages of social networking is the biggest proof of the effectiveness of social media and its ability to shorten distances and overcome the barriers to all people regardless of their affiliations; it also confirms people’s interest in social media outlets and their confidence in its credibility. He also said, “We shall continue staying in touch with you through these sites, and whatever new means to make us closer will be utilised to communicate with people.”
With inputs from WAM
