10 of Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid's best tweets, to celebrate his decade on Twitter

It is fitting that Twitter's chief executive, Jack Dorsey, was in the UAE this week, given that it is 10 years since Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, Vice President and Ruler of Dubai, joined the social media platform in June 2009.

In the last decade, Sheikh Mohammed has amassed 9.71 million Twitter followers, although he prefers to call them “participants”. A prolific Tweeter with 5,659 messages on his feed, in both English and Arabic, Sheikh Mohammed offers up a mixture of the personal and the political. He uses the platform to communicate with residents of the UAE and update them on matters of state, but also to offer insight into his vision for the emirate. Here are 10 of his best and most inspirational tweets from the last 10 years.

January 1, 2012

In January 2012, Sheikh Mohammed encouraged his followers to honour their mothers. “Let us share our best moments with our mother. I’ll start with my mother, the late Sheikha Latifa bint Hamdan bin Zayed Al Nahyan,” he tweeted, before sharing memories of morning chats over breakfast that gave him "such energy to start the day".

September 26, 2012

In September 2012, Sheikh Mohammed famously visited some government offices in Dubai and decided that too many managers were shut away behind closed doors – so he ordered that the doors be removed. In a series of tweets, he explained: "True leaders do not isolate themselves behind closed doors ... Reality is best experienced in the field.”

In a further tweet, he reiterated his leadership principles: “I often tell officials: “Put citizens at the heart of all your plans; they are the true judge of your success, not me.”

And finally: "A leader cannot lead from behind."

November 4, 2012

He often references his father, Sheikh Rashid, former Ruler of Dubai, and Sheikh Zayed, Founding Father. Sheikh Mohammed's Twitter feed is dotted with references to lessons he has learned from his predecessors: "Zayed’s name is engraved in every corner in this country ... and we will continue to honour him and remain inspired by his wisdom," he has written. In a separate tweet, he shared a conversation between the two former rulers that has guided his own vision.

December 30, 2012

As 2012 came to a close, Sheikh Mohammed reminded us all of a simple but invaluable lesson:

He followed this with a tweet saying: “I hope this message reaches all the workers ... that our society really appreciates their efforts in providing us the basic services we need.”

April 11, 2016

Every now and again, Sheikh Mohammed's Twitter feed offers a little snapshot of UAE history. A black and white photograph, posted in April 2016 and taken in the 1960s, sees Sheikh Mohammed and a group of Emirati men posing atop the Empire State Building. "A dream started when my father and I ascended the world's tallest building," Sheikh Mohammed wrote. In the following tweet, he continued: "We returned to Dubai fired with the dream that one day our city could be filled with such wonders as the world’s tallest building.”

April 21, 2016

In April 2016, Sheikh Mohammed marked Queen Elizabeth II's 90th birthday by posting a picture of himself with the British royal, who he described as "a remarkable monarch I greatly admire".

June 2, 2018

Last year, the Dubai ruler shared a video of himself being interviewed after Godolphin won the Epsom Derby for the first time. "Horses are in my blood, horses are my life," he exclaimed.

December 8, 2018

Sheikh Mohammed has repeatedly used Twitter to promote women’s advancement. In 2014, he posted: “Every woman has our deepest appreciation. Every role a woman takes to contribute to society makes her a partner in building our nation.” On December 8, 2018, he lauded a presidential decree declaring that 50 per cent of seats in the Federal National Council would be allocated to women. "Women are half of our society: they should be represented as such," he concluded.

March 22, 2019

In the wake of the terrorist attack that killed 50 people at two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand, Sheikh Mohammed shared a moving message in praise of the country's prime minister, Jacinda Ardern. The tweet also paid tribute to the people of New Zealand for their "empathy" for the Muslim community, as the Burj Khalifa lit up with an image of Ardern embracing a woman in the aftermath of the attack.

June 16, 2019

On June 16, Sheikh Mohammed declared that the Arab world was facing a "management crisis" and that the region required leaders capable of harnessing its potential. Under the title "Life has taught me", Sheikh Mohammed insisted that Arab nations have an abundance of resources at their disposal, but lacked decision-makers to guide its pool of talent and help build great nations. "There is no energy crisis, or education crisis, or health crisis in our Arab region. We have a management crisis," he said. "We are a people who own great resources and have great competencies but we lack ones who will manage the resources and qualifications to build a great nation."

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