RIYADH — Leaders in the Middle East are increasingly using Twitter as an effective tool to engage their people, according to a recent study titled “Twiplomacy”. The study is the first-ever global study of world leaders on Twitter that researches 264 heads of state and their institutions in 125 countries of which 21 were from the Middle East and North Africa. The study analysed their Twitter profiles, tweet history and connections with each other. The study shows that almost two-thirds of world leaders have a Twitter account. From the region, active leaders on Twitter include: Prime Minister and Vice President of the United Arab Emirates, Mohammed bin Rashid Al-Maktoum who just crossed the 1 million mark in followers; Jordan's Queen Rania (2,222,872 followers); Tunisian President Moncef Marzouki (69,217 followers); Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati (54,782 followers); Lebanese President Michel Suleiman (39,092 followers); Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad (1,551 followers); Tunisian Prime Minister Hamadi Jebali (1,324 followers); and Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Al Maliki (385 followers). Al-Maktoum has 13 other world leaders following him, making him the most followed by leaders in the region. Queen Rania is the fourth most followed world leader (2,222,872 followers) preceded by Barack Obama in first position (18,223,342 followers). Venezuelan President Hugo Ch?vez is the second most followed leader (3,276,230 followers) followed by the account of the White House (3,002,147 followers). Of the G20 countries, 16 have a presence on Twitter. The Saudi Arabian government has an official portal with a Twitter account @Saudiportal (2,615 followers). The Twiplomacy study identifies Arabic as the fourth most used language among world leaders. English is the main language followed by Spanish and French. Leaders across the world tweet in a total of 43 different languages. Thirty heads of state and government do their own tweeting. Among the Middle Eastern leaders, the most conversational is Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati who personally engages with his 54,700+ followers. One-fifth of his tweets are replies and he regularly has one-hour long Twitter chats with his followers. In November 2011, he organized a Twitter Q&A with the British Ambassador to Lebanon, @HMATomFletcher. Also, Lebanese President Michel Suleiman is one of the few heads of state that occasionally tweets himself, signing his personal tweets MS which are sent straight from his Blackberry. A recent Arab youth survey revealed that since the Arab Spring, nearly three-quarters of Middle East youth believe their government has become more trustworthy and transparent. According to Dubai School of Government's recent Arab Social Media Report, the Arab region has close to 2.1 million active Twitter users tweeting almost 4,000 tweets a minute. The top five Arab countries in terms of Twitter users are: Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, UAE and Lebanon. — SG
