Dubai: Government-related posts leading Twitter conversations in the UAE this year, with His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum’s, Vice President and Prime Minister of UAE and Ruler of Dubai, post #Life_has_taught_me being the most re-tweeted.
In that tweet, Sheikh Mohammed says: “There is no energy crisis, or education crisis, or health crisis in our Arab region. We have a management crisis. We are a people who own great resources and have great competencies, but we lack ones who will manage the resources and qualifications to build a great nation.”
Another posting under the same hashtag #Life_has_taught_me, was also extensively retweeted. In it, Shaikh Mohammed says: “#Life_has_taught_me to not wait for achievements from those who are good at making excuses... to not wait for opinions from those who do not know their own mind...to not wait for ideas from those who tear down the ideas of others… Life taught me not to wait for anyone, but to lead and others will follow.”
Another widely followed tweet he said: “#Life_has_taught_me that at times when we need work to be done, with little controversy, that we need more wise men than fools...Life has taught me that we are in a time where maintaining is more important than gaining...and the unification of hearts is one of the most important lines of our defense...and maintaining our rationality is the best plan in a time when many may riot.”
Sheikh Mohammed has nearly 10 million followers for his Twitter handle @HHShkMohd.
On Tuesday, Twitter released its data on top conversations through the platform. The most prominent event-specific hashtags from the UAE include one for the Holy Month of Ramadan; the anniversary of Sheikh Zayed’s passing; UAE Flag Day; Zayed’s ambition with regard to the UAE space mission; and the Year of Tolerance.
One prominent sign up to the platform this year was His Highness Sheikh Maktoum bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Deputy Ruler of Dubai.
Sets off a chatter
In fact, the first UAE astronaut Hazza Al Mansouri’s mission to the International Space Station (ISS) topped the list of UAE events that attracted the most engagement from global and local Twitter users.
Prominent tweets related to this event included Sheikh Mohammed’s tweet congratulating Al Mansouri on his arrival at the space station and the picture shared by Al Mansouri showing the UAE from the ISS. “From the happiest astronaut to the happiest nation...this is history, this is the UAE from space,” Al Mansouri tweeted with a photo.
Government initiatives too
Some of the initiatives the government rolled out this year also feature in the top Twitter chats. May’s Sheikh Mohammed tweet was one such: “We launched a new “Golden Card” system to grant permanent residency to investors and exceptional doctors, engineers, scientists and artists. The first batch of 6,800 investors with AED100 billion worth of investments will be granted the “Golden Card.”
