Dubai: Twitter CEO and co-founder Jack Dorsey sent the social networking site buzzing in the UAE after his arrival at Dubai International Airport.
Taking to none other than Twitter, Dorsey snapped a photo of a special sticker issued by Dubai Customs that was designed solely for his arrival – the famous blue Twitter bird next to the Dubai skyline, accompanied with the greeting “Welcome @jack. Dubai”.
The photo of the sticker, which was placed inside Dorsey’s passport next to the UAE entry stamp, was tweeted with the phrase “marhaba Dubai” written in Arabic.
On his first visit to the UAE, Dorsey launched the major philanthropic initiative #YouthForGood in collaboration with Shamma Al Mazroui, Minister of State for Youth Affairs.
Commenting on the initiative His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, said: “The UAE represents positive change and hope in our Arab region and we are keen to encourage our young people to harness the power of online platforms such as Twitter to create a positive impact on their communities. #YouthForGood is a significant initiative in this direction.”
The #YouthForGood initiative, the first of its kind in the world, aims to promote the use of Twitter to support humanitarian and social causes and sustain a culture of volunteering among youth in the region and the world. It forms part of the broader global #TwitterForGood campaign, with the philanthropic mission to harness the positive power of Twitter to bring communities together.
During his visit to the emirate, Dorsey attended a meeting with Shaikh Maktoum Bin Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Deputy Ruler of Dubai, who launched his first Twitter account under the handle @MaktoumMohammed.
Speaking about the launch, Dorsey said: “I’m delighted to launch the #YouthForGood initiative in partnership with the Youth Hub. At Twitter, our philanthropic mission is to harness the positive power of our platform to make the world a better place and we hope that such an initiative will empower youth by building their media literacy and digital citizenship skills to drive positive change.”
In a series of posts written in Arabic and English, Shaikh Maktoum compared Dubai and Twitter as global hubs open that build bridges of understanding and dialogue between people.
“We are pleased to have hosted Twitter’s CEO and cofounder @jack on his first visit to the Middle East and the UAE. I am also pleased to have launched my new Twitter account in his presence,” he wrote.
“Dubai and Twitter share many aspects in common. Both stand as global hubs open for people, build bridges of understanding and dialogue among nations and represent platforms to nurture youth’s energies and creativity,” wrote Shaikh Mohammad.
“Through our partnership with Twitter to launch the #YouthForGood initiative, we seek to use the platform to channel young people’s efforts towards humanitarian and philanthropic work and encourage them to share their stories, achievements and inspirations.”
“Twitter today is one of the world’s key social media platforms, and it’s great to see its power being put to good use and building positive change,” he added.
#YouthForGood will be open to participants of three to five people over the next three months. The initiative encourages the young people of the UAE to utilise the power of Twitter to launch a creative, engaging and active Twitter account that will fuel philanthropic efforts locally in their community.
The winning team will be awarded with the acclaimed Twitter MENA Award and a Twitter for Good Ads Grant. For further details on how to get involved, people can visit www.ForGood.youth.gov.ae and follow @TwitterMENA.
