As 2017 comes to an end, Twitter is reflecting on the year that was: From breaking news, entertainment, sports, and local conversations, that happened on Twitter.
Early this year, Twitter launched its Moments guide in Arabic that enables people to discover new content by displaying curated “Moments,” a feature that creates a moment based on a collection of tweets. Located in Twitter’s “Explore” tab, this tool features timely moments around global and regional topics that include news, sports and entertainment, that are also tweeted from @MomentsMENA.
One of the key highlights that made 2017 unique was when Twitter’s co-founder and CEO Jack Dorsey (@jack) tweeted Arabic Eid wishes for the first time to celebrate Eid Al-Adha.
In 2017, the most retweeted tweets in Saudi Arabia were from King Salman (@KingSalman); the top tweet being when King Salman tweeted in celebration of Saudi Arabia’s national day which also falls under the top 100 global retweets, and the second was when King Salman tweeted his wishes for the Saudi people on the occasion of Eid Al-Fitr.
Another top tweet in Saudi Arabia this year was by football player @fahad_almowalad who tweeted congratulatory remarks following the Kingdom’s qualification for the 2018 World Cup.
Following Saudi Arabia’s announcement of permitting women to drive in the country, people both locally and globally took to Twitter to express their feelings, generating over 2 million tweets in a span of one week.
The region also witnessed the launch of the “Retweets Challenge.”
Carter Wilkerson’s (@carterjwm) call for a year’s supply of free nuggets from @Wendys was heard around the globe, and became the most retweeted tweet with 3.6 million retweets, surpassing Ellen De Generes’ infamous selfie as the most retweeted tweet of all time.
Saudi national AbdulAziz (@Mr_Abdul3ziz) tweeted to a fast food chain (@ShawarmerSA) asking for the number of retweets it would take for them to donate 100 shawarma sandwiches to underprivileged workers, which then spread to other brands as well.
Prominent new joiners
The following list also falls under the top 200 global accounts that were created on Twitter in 2017:
1. @khrbinomar77 (Omar Khribin, Al-Hilal football player)
2. @S_AlNeayma (Saleh Al-Neayma, former captain of the Saudi national football team)
3. @nasser_shamrni (Nasser Al-Shamrani, Al-Shabab Club football player)
4. @AwwadSAlawwad (Awwad bin Saleh Al-Awwad, minister of culture and information)
5. @HolyKaaba (Official Holy Kaaba account)
Top entertainment accounts
1. @Fayez_malki (Fayez Malki, Saudi actor)
2. @Mjeedalfawzan (Abdul Mjeed Al-Fawzan, Saudi musician)
3. @algassabinasser (Nasser Al-Ghassabi, Saudi actor)
4. @fawaz_dr (Fawaz Al-Laboon, Saudi poet)
5. @AhlamAlShamsi (Ahlam Al-Shamsi, Emirati musician)
Early this year, Twitter launched its Moments guide in Arabic that enables people to discover new content by displaying curated “Moments,” a feature that creates a moment based on a collection of tweets. Located in Twitter’s “Explore” tab, this tool features timely moments around global and regional topics that include news, sports and entertainment, that are also tweeted from @MomentsMENA.
One of the key highlights that made 2017 unique was when Twitter’s co-founder and CEO Jack Dorsey (@jack) tweeted Arabic Eid wishes for the first time to celebrate Eid Al-Adha.
In 2017, the most retweeted tweets in Saudi Arabia were from King Salman (@KingSalman); the top tweet being when King Salman tweeted in celebration of Saudi Arabia’s national day which also falls under the top 100 global retweets, and the second was when King Salman tweeted his wishes for the Saudi people on the occasion of Eid Al-Fitr.
Another top tweet in Saudi Arabia this year was by football player @fahad_almowalad who tweeted congratulatory remarks following the Kingdom’s qualification for the 2018 World Cup.
Following Saudi Arabia’s announcement of permitting women to drive in the country, people both locally and globally took to Twitter to express their feelings, generating over 2 million tweets in a span of one week.
The region also witnessed the launch of the “Retweets Challenge.”
Carter Wilkerson’s (@carterjwm) call for a year’s supply of free nuggets from @Wendys was heard around the globe, and became the most retweeted tweet with 3.6 million retweets, surpassing Ellen De Generes’ infamous selfie as the most retweeted tweet of all time.
Saudi national AbdulAziz (@Mr_Abdul3ziz) tweeted to a fast food chain (@ShawarmerSA) asking for the number of retweets it would take for them to donate 100 shawarma sandwiches to underprivileged workers, which then spread to other brands as well.
Prominent new joiners
The following list also falls under the top 200 global accounts that were created on Twitter in 2017:
1. @khrbinomar77 (Omar Khribin, Al-Hilal football player)
2. @S_AlNeayma (Saleh Al-Neayma, former captain of the Saudi national football team)
3. @nasser_shamrni (Nasser Al-Shamrani, Al-Shabab Club football player)
4. @AwwadSAlawwad (Awwad bin Saleh Al-Awwad, minister of culture and information)
5. @HolyKaaba (Official Holy Kaaba account)
Top entertainment accounts
1. @Fayez_malki (Fayez Malki, Saudi actor)
2. @Mjeedalfawzan (Abdul Mjeed Al-Fawzan, Saudi musician)
3. @algassabinasser (Nasser Al-Ghassabi, Saudi actor)
4. @fawaz_dr (Fawaz Al-Laboon, Saudi poet)
5. @AhlamAlShamsi (Ahlam Al-Shamsi, Emirati musician)
