Shaikh Hamdan: An icon for young Arabs

Snapchat names Hamdan among global figures to have 'official stories'.

Shaikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai, has been named by leading messaging service Snapchat along with a select group of international leaders, celebrities and influencers who will have 'Official Stories', a new initiative introduced by Snapchat to help its members easily discover and identify interesting stories about leading global personalities.

Shaikh Hamdan's inclusion in the select list reflects his rising global popularity as well as his growing profile as an icon for young Arabs and a leader who actively engages with the public not only regionally but also internationally. Shaikh Hamdan has a strong and loyal following on the world's prominent social media networks with almost 1.4 million followers on Facebook, over 1.37 million on Twitter and over 2.8 million on Instagram.

Shaikh Hamdan's large following reflects his keenness to use social media as a means of direct and interactive engagement with the public following the example set by his father, His Highness Shaikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai

In the initial phase of its launch, Snapchat's 'official stories' is being rolled out to a small group of high profile celebrities, influencers and thought leaders. When a Snapchat member searches for a specific personality with an 'official story', they will see the person's name at the top of the page under a new 'official story' header. An emoji to the far right will also identify the official story.

Snapchat is a social media messaging application that allows users to share photos, videos, text and drawings. The app is currently estimated to have over 100 million active users every day, most of whom are young users. According to the company, in May 2015, the apps' users were sending 2 billion photos and videos per day, while Snapchat Stories content was being viewed 500 million times per day. The public can follow Shaikh Hamdan bin Mohammed on his Snapchat id: faz3.