The world’s longest-serving foreign minister calls it a day, a devastating earthquake in Nepal kills thousands but the toll will surely rise and what would you do if your boss was on Twitter and keeping tabs of your tweets and hash tag support?
So long Prince Saud
Twitter has been marking the departure from office of Prince Saud bin Faisal, who was Saudi Arabia’s foreign minister for 40 years. Though the prince will remain an influential voice, he will no longer be getting on planes 24/7, and many Saudis took to social media with photos and video portraits to mark the end of an era.
“Forty years and five kings,” Ahmad @Ahmad_AlMasoud tweeted admiringly, while Bader @b62b62 tweeted a collage of photographs of the Prince over the years with the message: “There will never again be born a man such as you.”
@OXY_0 expressed gratitude for his careful stewardship of foreign policy: “You did so much for this kingdom, you’re worth a thousand men.”
Mubarak @mub_albreki spoke for many when he described the sense of security with having men like Prince Saud at the helm: “You were like a fort, strong and protective, keeping the Gulf and the Arabs safe from enemies.”
Khaled @Khaled_Bn_Moh tweeted a video biography of the 75-year-old Prince, while @azeen__ referred to his health problems with the fervent hope “May Allah protect you. You gave your health, and most of your life, to serving the country.”
Aftershocks of Nepal
The worst earthquake to hit the poor South Asian country in more than 80 years provoked enormous sympathy, offers of help and updates on what was already on its way to Nepal.
@DXBMediaOffice tweeted the Ruler of Dubai’s dispatch of 450 tonnes of relief material to Nepal.
Al Waleed bin Talal @Alwaleed_Talal said the Al Waleed Foundation was supporting #NepalEarthquake “with vital relief”.
@etisalat said it was offering “five free international minutes to call any number in Nepal for anyone who has relatives there,” something that is obviously crucial for the thousands of Nepalese who live and work here,
There was much retweeting of the Indian government’s ministry of defence spokesperson’s tweet about efforts to reach the most difficult terrain and great wonder at ABC journalist Siobhan’s @siobhanheanue tweet from the ruins of the ancient city of Bhaktapur: “Most people are hauling belongings from unsafe homes, but then there’s this. Nepalese man carries his peacefully sleeping daughter.”
If your boss is on Twitter
It seems as if many people decided to give themselves some time off work and let their imaginations take over, but an extraordinary discussion started all of a sudden on Twitter.
What if your boss is on too and is able to keep track of all that you say or retweet?
Some said they would block them, others said it was hard to say because their boss might already be monitoring their Twitter feed. Ghada @GadaAmmar, a news anchor at Roya TV, decided to be bold and included her two supervisors’ Twitter handles: “I can’t even draw breath without my bosses watching – they’re both on Twitter.”
@manalkud said Twitter would become a much less nice place if their boss were a Twitter follower.
@tstgh96 and @Al_Mogheer spoke for many who suggested the short sharp solution: “Block him”. @tstgh96 added that it was bad enough seeing him at work, without having him around on Twitter.
Arwa @arwa511 agreed that it was a good idea to keep Twitter away from the workchain. “My boss might be shocked by how silly I am on Twitter. I’m very different at work.”
@history_seeker was sarcastic about the hashtag #ifyourbossisontwitter. Get a grip, they seemed to suggest, “the King is on Twitter, Obama is on Twitter, Rouhani is on Twitter. My boss is surely nothing in comparison.”
But @eng_5lod had the last word: “Thank God, I’m my own boss.”
Sarah Khamis is The National’s social media editor
salalawi@thenational.ae
On Twitter: @SarahKhamisUAE
