As we reach the end of 2017 Twitter has been reflecting on the year that was: from breaking news, entertainment, sports, and local conversations, if it happened anywhere, it happened on Twitter.
Early this year, Twitter launched its Moments guide in Arabic that enables people to discover new content by displaying curated “Moments,” a feature that creates a moment based on a collection of tweets. Located in Twitter’s “Explore” tab, this tool features moments from around the world and regionally on topics that include news, sports and entertainment, that are also tweeted from @MomentsMENA.
One of the key highlights that made 2017 unique was when Twitter’s Co-founder and CEO Jack Dorsey (@jack) Tweeted Arabic Eid wishes for the first time to celebrate Eid Al Adha:
يسعدني أن أتقدم إلى المسلمين بأطيب التهاني بحلول #عيد_الأضحى المبارك، كل عام وأنتم بخير
— jack (@jack) August 31, 2017
Take a look at how 2017 unfolded on Twitter, and share your biggest moments and memories of 2017 with #ThisHappened:
Saudi Arabia’s most tweeted moments
In 2017, the most retweeted tweets in Saudi Arabia were from King Salman @KingSalman; the top tweet being when he tweeted the celebration of Saudi Arabia’s national day. This message also falls under the top 100 global retweets. The second was when the king tweeted his wishes for the Saudi people on the occasion of Eid Al Fitr:
كل عام وبلادنا بخير وعزة ومجد، وستبقى المملكة حصنًا قويًّا لكل محب للخير، ومحب لدينه ووطنه.
— سلمان بن عبدالعزيز (@KingSalman) September 23, 2017
أهنئكم بعيد الفطر السعيد، وأدعو الله أن يديم على بلادنا أمنها واستقرارها وعزتها ووحدتها وتكاتف أبنائها، وكل عام وأنتم بخير.
— سلمان بن عبدالعزيز (@KingSalman) June 25, 2017
Another top tweet in Saudi Arabia in 2017 was by football player @fahad_almowalad who posted his congratulations when the Kingdom’s national team qualified for the 2018 World Cup:
الحمدلله الحمدلله الحمدلله
ارفع التهاني لمقام خادم الحرمين وولي عهده الامين وللشعب السعودي على تأهلنا لكأس العالم 2018
مبروك يا أغلى وطن— فهد المولد (@fahad_almowalad) September 5, 2017
Saudi Arabia’s top trends
Following Saudi Arabia’s announcement that women were to be allowed to drive in the country, people both locally and globally took to Twitter to air their views on the topic, generating over 2 million tweets within the week:
Saudi Arabia allows women to drive
— وزارة الخارجية (@KSAMOFA) September 26, 2017
The region also witnessed the launch of the “Retweets Challenge.”
Carter Wilkerson’s (@carterjwm) call for a year’s supply of free nuggets from @Wendys was heard around the globe, and became the most retweeted tweet with 3.6 million Retweets, surpassing Ellen’s infamous selfie that she took at the Oscars in 2014, as the most retweeted tweet of all time.
The trend continued and spread across the MENA region, where Saudi National, AbdulAziz (@Mr_Abdul3ziz) tweeted to a well-known fast food chain (@ShawarmerSA) asking how many retweets it would take for the chain to donate 100 Shawarma sandwiches to underprivileged workers – that post request eventually spread to other brands:
الاعزاء شاورمر @ShawarmerSA تحية طيبة.
كم ريتويت عشان تعطونا 100 ساندوتش نوزعها على عمال النظافة في الشارع ؟— AbdulAziz (@Mr_Abdul3ziz) April 14, 2017
ومننا 100 بطاقة شحن من سوا
علشان يتواصلون مع أحبابهم
https://t.co/nmGkaQwit6— الاتصالات السعودية (@STC_KSA) April 15, 2017
وحنا مستعدين نكون مظله رسميه ونوزع المنتجات على ١٠٠ عامل نظافة .
— جمعية البر بأم الدوم (@jmihdom) April 15, 2017
حيّا الله الجميع! الشاورما والبيتزا تعطش والجو حار! مويتكم علينا وبالكمية اللي تحتاجونها
— مياه تانيا (@TaniaWaterKSA) April 15, 2017
Below are some of the top trending topics that generated popular hashtags in the Kingdom:
Top Hajj tweets:
Three million people gather in one small city. The effort it takes for them to be safe is very challenging. We owe it to show thankfulness. pic.twitter.com/LmwfyKJoWR
— Thiago Neves (@thneves10) August 31, 2017
Ramadan Kareem Bon Ramadan #makkah #blessed pic.twitter.com/B9OaobKTU8
— Paul Pogba (@paulpogba) May 28, 2017
وكأنّهم في بقاع بيت الله أزهارًا pic.twitter.com/amSVkSZh6h
— ابو خطّاب (@OfficialM0R) September 2, 2017
كالذهب ليلا، كاللؤلؤ نهارا.#منى pic.twitter.com/bF0mGNVBNL
— عيسى سوادي (@essaswadi) August 29, 2017
١٦ ألف ريال فقدتهم في السعوديه..المدينه المنوره.مستحيل أجدهم بين ملايين البشر.واذا بهم في صندوقات الأمانات في مسجد الميقات دون لمس ريال واحد pic.twitter.com/V40FNoK61H
— زيد جاسم الخباز (@ZaidAlkhabbaz) June 2, 2017
Top sports hashtags:
1. الهلال# (Al Hilal football club)
2. النصر# (Al Nassr football club)
3. الاهلي# (Al Ahli football club)
4. الاتحاد# (Al Ittihad football club)
5. الشباب# (Al Shabab football club)
Top athletes accounts:
1. @Faisalbinturki1 (Faisal Bin Turki, Chairman of Al Nassr football club)
2. @omaralsomah (Omar Al Somah, Al Ahli football player)
3. @YASSER_Q_Y20 (Yasser AL Qahtani, Al Hilal football player)
4. @AliAlhabsi (Ali Al Habsi, Al Hilal Goalkeeper)
5. @mohadalowais (Mohammad Al Owais, Al Ahli goalkeeper)
Prominent new joiners:
The following list also falls under the top 200 global accounts that were created on Twitter in 2017:
1. @khrbinomar77 (Omar Khribin, Al Hilal football player)
2. @S_AlNeayma (Saleh AlNeayma, Former captain of the Saudi national football team)
3. @nasser_shamrni (Nasser Al Shamrani, Al Shabab Club football player)
4. @AwwadSAlawwad (H.E. Awwad Bin Saleh Al Awwad, Minister of Culture and Information)
5. @HolyKaaba (Official Al-ka`bah Al-musharrafah account)
Top entertainment accounts:
1. @Fayez_malki (Fayez Malki, Saudi actor)
2. @Mjeedalfawzan (Abdul Mjeed Al Fawzan, Saudi musician)
3. @algassabinasser (Nasser Al Ghassabi, Saudi actor)
4. @fawaz_dr (Fawaz Al Laboon, Saudi poet)
5. @AhlamAlShamsi (Ahlam Al Shamsi, Emirati musician)
