Manama Ministers in Bahrain are being urged to open personal Twitter accounts to help boost communication with the people.
“A personal account by a minister has a highly positive effect on the citizens and creates a great channel of communication with the world,” Mohammad Al Ahmad, a journalist, said. “There have been many shining examples where ministers communicated directly with the people and achieved great results. I can refer to the case of the Saudi national who was allowed in Bahrain thanks to the communication on Twitter he had with the foreign minister,” he said.
Last week, Turki Abdul Hay, a Saudi journalist, tweeted Shaikh Khalid Bin Ahmad Al Khalifa to inform him that he had not been allowed to enter Bahrain. A few minutes later, Shaikh Khalid apologised to the journalist and told him that there had been a mistake and that the interior minister had issued directives to allow him in. “It was a remarkable case that showed that direct communication with ministers can remove obstacles and expedite matters,” Al Ahmad said.
In Bahrain, besides Shaikh Khalid, other ministers who have accounts and a large number of followers include the justice minister, the president of the Information Affairs Authority, the media adviser to the king and the human rights and social development minister. “I believe that a minister’s account not only allows direct and unobstructed communication, but also gives him or her a new dimension that helps build better relations,” Dua’a Abdul Aziz, an e-media expert, said.
