| Hakim Hayat |
THE Brunei Government’s social media account has been named the most active in the world, according to a study conducted by Burson-Marsteller, a leading global public relations and communication firm.
The study titled ‘World Leaders on Instagram’ is the US-based firm’s latest research into how world leaders, governments and international organisations communicate via social media and its findings were based on 325 accounts maintained by the different countries.
The report, released earlier this month based on a 12-month-long analytics study, found that the Information Department of the Prime Minister’s Office’s (PMO) Instagram account @infodept.bn which maintains some 19,000 followers is the most active government account in the world, with more than 16 posts per day on average.
Behind Brunei is the Foreign Ministry of Kuwait with 6.6 posts per day while the US President’s Instagram account @realdonaldtrump is in the 10th place with an average of 2.8 posts daily, according to the report.
The Instagram account @infodept.bn which was only introduced in recent years is maintained by the Information Department and posts on a daily basis a blend of local news reports published by its tri-weekly Malay Language newspaper Pelita Brunei on government events, current affairs, sports, the royal family as well as important government announcements.
The department also maintains an active Facebook and Twitter account.
Pelita Brunei also maintains a website which publishes daily online news and has just recently introduced an online e-paper platform.
Photo shows a smartphone user scrolling the Information Department’s Instagram account @infodept.bn which is named the most active government social media in a new study. – HAKIM HAYAT
The Information Department, which carries the motto ‘Nurturing an Informed Society’, was established on April 1, 1952 and celebrated its 65th anniversary earlier this month.
According to its mission and vision statement available on its website, the department is responsible in leading the dissemination of official information based on the Malay Islamic Monarchy (MIB), highlighting the image of the monarchy and the country and upholding the Brunei Vision 2035 through the dissemination of official information that leads towards national unity and welfare.
In its executive summary of the report, Burson-Marsteller said the most active governments and world leaders have discovered Instagram as a formidable channel to post pictures of their daily activities and their Instagram accounts have become the central repository for all official government pictures.
It added that the heads of state and government, as well as foreign ministers of 140 countries currently have personal and institutional accounts on Instagram, representing 72.5 per cent of all 193 United Nations (UN) member states.
The report also said that Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has become the most followed world leader on Instagram with 6.8 million followers, closely followed by US President Donald J Trump with 6.3 million followers.
Indonesia’s President Joko Widodo @Jokowi has seen a 673 per cent growth of his followers over the past 12 months, putting him in fifth position. Queen Rania of Jordan; Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev; His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the Ruler of Dubai; Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei complete the Top 10 list.
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