In the past few months, the potential of social media outreach in the Gulf hasn’t only been noticed and exploited by marketing firms but also by regional governments and officials. After all, there are a staggering 7.4 million Facebook users in the Gulf according to Inside Facebook as of May this year and 5.5 million Twitter users in the Middle East according to ArabCrunch as of March this year. Read more »
Media
Danish Farhan Talks Twitter Politics With Sultan Al Qassemi, Mishaal Al Gergawi
On Twitter’s 5th birthday, Danish Farhan, Mishaal Al Gergawi, and one of Time’s 140 most influential Tweeps Sultan Sooud Al Qassemi, were invited to weigh in on Twitter and its growing relevance in business and politics. Read more »
McCarthyism in Gulf social media
Post-Second World War America was a period of economic growth and prosperity for many citizens but it was also a dark period in which a powerful US Senator by the name of Joseph McCarthy initiated a process of publicly accusing individuals of harbouring communist tendencies without regard for evidence. Read more »
Time: The 140 Best Twitter Feeds of 2011
Commentators are still debating the extent to which media contributed to the 2011 Arab uprisings, but one thing’s for sure: to the extent that the revolution was tweeted, much of it came through the feed of Sultan al Qassemi. Read more »
Through Protests, One Man Helps Define Twitter
One of the most popular and prolific Twitter reporters is Sultan Al Qassimi, who tweeted minute-by-minute updates of the events in Egypt and Tunisia, says NPR. Read more »
UN Dispatch: 10 Must-Follow Twitter Feeds for Egyptian Protests
Sultan Al Qassemi named as “critical bridge” between Arabic language bloggers and the English speaking world when discussing the Egypt protests. Read more »