SULTAN TAMIMI | ARAB NEWS
JEDDAH: Saudi minsters and officials are slowly embracing new media platforms. The move aims to better communicate with the younger audience who are normally associated with the medium.
Perhaps the most recognized Twitter account currently is that of Minister of Culture and Information Abdulaziz Khoja (@abdlazizkhoja). Khoja’s Twitter handle as of Sunday has 65,749 Twitter followers. Through Twitter the minster keeps his followers updated with general and sometimes personal excerpts from his daily activity, particularly on January when the minster underwent open-heart surgery in Riyadh.
“I would like to thank all my well wishers for all the nice messages they sent me,” the minster tweeted few days after treatment.
More recently he tweeted, “I am in debt to all those on my Facebook and Twitter accounts. They are part of the team and success of the Ministry of Culture and Information.”
The move by the minster was welcomed by many users of the social networking websites.
Users hoped Khoja’s presence on Twitter would encourage other officials to join in as well. Last December Arab News reported on Minister of Commerce Tawfiq Al-Rabiah (@tfrabiah), who has 21,205 Twitter followers.
Tweeters use the micro blogging website to reach out to Al-Rabiah on issues concerning trade, consumer protection, and complaints.
Al-Rabiah’s account became popular to the point that the Ministry of Commerce and Industry launched its official Twitter handle in order to expand their reach to tweeters.
The ministry is using Twitter to help its efforts to monitor consumer goods and market prices, improve interaction with the public, and deal with complaints and feedback quicker.
“Minster Khoja is online and tweeting, Minster Tawfiq Al-Rabiah as well. We hope to see more and more minsters interacting with the online community,” one user posted on Facebook.
Neither of the two ministers were available for comment.
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