Twitter comes alive with lessons of hope – and Korean culture

Sarah Khamis takes a look at what Arab tweeters are saying

Queen Rania of Jordan at the Global Women’s Forum held in Dubai. ( Pawan Singh / The National )

Trending stories on Twitter this week ranged from the positive effects of the Global Women's Forum to the frenzy driven by the filming in Dubai of the Korean TV show Running Man and anticipation of the K-CON Korean pop culture festival, which is coming to Abu Dhabi for the first time.

Women’s forum

World leaders gathered in Dubai on Tuesday and Wednesday for the Middle East’s first Global Women’s Forum, where stereotypes of Arab women were dispelled and their achievements promoted. The Twitterverse was overwhelmed by the significant success of the forum.

Sheikh Hamdan @HamdanMohammed tweeted: “We are pleased to host the #GWFDubai in the UAE. It is another global achievement for the UAE in women empowerment.” He added in another tweet: “I attended today the #GWFDubai, an exceptional platform for women leaders and discussions about gender balance.”

Jordan’s Queen Rania @QueenRania tweeted: “A society’s expectations of women are a reflection of its belief in their capabilities and value.”

Sana @SanaBagersh: “An inspirational tone was set for #GWFDubai by Reem Al Hashimy on diversity and inclusiveness.”

@Nathalie_Rault shared a beautiful photo of the conference hall and wrote: “#GWFDubai. Incredible encounter of two worlds: lessons of humanity, humility and hope.”

Catherine @Catherine3625 thought it was great chance to show the real image of Arab women: “Time to break and uncover the barriers that define women in the Arab world.”

Eman @eman_refaat found the event inspiring: “Enjoyed the GWF a lot. It was amazing to attend such an event and be inspired.”

Moises @MmvMoises wrote: “Queen Rania says restricted view of women in Arab world is ‘result of culture’.”

Latifa @LatifaMRM was happy about being there: “I had the pleasure to attend the Global Women’s Forum Dubai, the first forum of its kind in the region.”

Running Man

You might be wondering what Running Man is. We'd never heard of it until the South Korean variety show's fans went crazy on Twitter about it being filmed in Dubai.

@girinprincelks shared a video of the actor Lee Kwang-soo, also known simply as Kangsoon. “Kwangsoo greeting the fans in the middle of filming. Such a sweetheart.”

@RM_MyHappyPill shared a selfie of another cast member, Jung Il-Woo, wearing a ghutra. Referring to the picture, @Mathoooh noted that the actor was “the first Korean who looks good with our ghutra”.

@ThanaMorana said the presence of the Running Man cast in Dubai had made her tense: "These past two days I haven't stopped checking my phone, even ignoring my lectures. Power of #runningmanindubai."

@llamaclouds shared a photo of the shooting location, noting that “they are currently setting up in the Bastakiya area”.

KCON

KCON is the world’s largest Korean culture festival, and it will come to Abu Dhabi next month. Tickets for the event, covering Korean pop, drama, beauty and food, have just gone on sale, creating a big fuss on Twitter .

@kconabudhabi announced “You guys don’t know what’s waiting for you here.”

But some users had issues with the ticketing policies and availability of the exclusive diamond-class tickets.

@riseofjongdae complained: “There should’ve been more diamond tickets.”

@vastcharms wrote: “Guys, don’t waste your time on the diamond tickets, purchase the platinum tickets while they’re still available.”

@iSH_96: “After all this mess I can’t decide to go or not. Still thinking.”

@IsraaMad tweeted from one of the sales points, noting that there was a “girl crying so hard” because she couldn’t get a diamond ticket to meet her idols.”

Others asked people who had the prized tickets to direct-message them regarding potential purchase.

Sarah Khamis is The National’s social media editor

On Twitter: @SarahKhamisUAE