On Twitter alone there are at least 30 accounts that have been independently confirmed to represent some of well known Saudi public figures.
Such personalities include Saudi television and radio anchors, public figures, authors, Islamic scholars, media people, athletes including football players, as well as members of the Saudi royal family. To some this is seen as a good move, as it adds a level of transparency and a sense of direct communication between the people at the higher level of the society and those not in that stratum.
The general feeling is that people in high position should even keep their channels of communication with the people open through traditional methods — meeting with them for example.
Saudi Islamic scholar Sheikh Ayed Al-Qarni’s pages on both popular social media sites Twitter and Facebook have a huge number of followers. Another Islamic scholar, Salman Al-Oudah, also enjoys similar popularity on Twitter. On Twitter accounts generally many post comments of how happy they are when they find out that such figures are part of the online community that’s largely dominated by the younger generation.
Arab News spoke to several people on this topic.
“Despite the fact that there is a large chance that some of the online accounts of these prominent Saudi public figures could in effect be imposters, the idea in itself is good,” said 24-year-old Jeddah resident Jassim.
He added, “It is great to learn that a known Saudi figure is online interacting directly with the rest of Saudi online community, commenting on their comments and giving them feedback on various topics.”
Another young Saudi told Arab News, “Perhaps it is due to the nature of the medium, and its sense of openness, that allows anyone to text or post or share what's on their minds at that moment that’s attractive to these people. That’s why it might be appealing to some prominent Saudis, also it’s interesting to learn what these famous Saudis post online and comment on.”
“It’s great to learn that these prominent Saudis and public figures hang out online, on Twitter, on Facebook…. I guess it shows that they are not disconnected from the rest of the online community, plus some of them tend to be responsive to people’s inquires even though some users tend to ask complicated questions,” said Twitter user Eman.
