Revealed: Top 10 Most Followed UAE Twitter Accounts

Social networking site Twitter has released year-end stats about the most popular tweets and the hottest trends in 2014.

In the UAE, some of the top moments were holidays and social gatherings, such as the first day of Eid al Fitr, the company said.

“Our results reveal UAE to be a nation of Twitter users tuned into what’s happening locally and who express their feelings on Twitter,” it said in a statement. The company doesn’t divulge information about the number of users per country.

Twitter also announced that since January 1, the term ‘selfie’ has been mentioned more than 92 million times on Twitter – a 500 per cent increase compared to 2013.

The most retweeted message in 2014 was Ellen Degeneres’ (@TheEllenShow) selfie tweet from the Oscars, which has been shared over three million times, beating 2013 and 2012 records.

The network, which has more than 284 million monthly active users and is available in 35 languages, also reported that the highest number of tweets in 2014 – 672 million – was about this year’s World Cup finals in Brazil.

Not surprisingly, Brazilian footballer Neymar Jr. saw the most follower growth in 2014, gaining over 1.5 million followers.

Pop artist Katy Perry remained the most followed on Twitter, with over 61.1 million followers, with Justin Bieber in second place and US President Barack Obama in the third spot with 50.8 million followers.

In the UAE, the most followed accounts are primarily TV channels, shows, stars and presenters, with few exceptions such as Dubai Ruler Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum and singer Ahlam Al Shamsi.

TOP 10 MOST FOLLOWED UAE TWITTER ACCOUNTS

1. Al Arabiya Breaking News @AlArabiya_Brk – 6.07 million

The breaking news handle of the Dubai-based Pan Arab TV news station.

2. Al Arabiya News @AlArabiya – 4.63 million

The main handle of the free-to-air news station Al Arabiya.

3. Ahlam @Ahlam_Alshamsi – 4.16 million

The account of popular Emirati female singer Ahlam Alshamsi.

4. Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum @HHShkMohd – 3.4 million

The official account of the UAE PM and VP and Dubai’s Ruler Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum.

5. Mustafa Agha @mustafa_agha – 2.57 million

The twitter account of prominent Arab journalist Mustafa Agha, head of Sports at Middle East Broadcasting Center (MBC).

6. Faris Awad @farisf9 – 2.41 million

Handle of Emirati sports commentator Faris Awad, who works at Dubai Sports TV Channel.

7. Ola Al Fares @OlaAlfares – 2.26 million

The account of another TV media personality, Ola Al Fares, who is a presenter at MBC.

8. Al Hadath News @AlHadath – 2.18 million

The handle of Al Arabiya’s recently relaunched sister channel, Al Hadath, which focuses on political news coverage.

9. MBC Group @mbc_group – 2.05 million

The official account of the Dubai-based free-to-air broadcasting company MBC which includes 18 TV channels.

10. Hussain Aljassmi @7sainaljassmi – 1.99 million

Twitter account of the famous male Emirati singer Hussain Aljassmi.