He used his personal account on "Instagram" to introduce the Emirati society

Mohammed Sultan bin Thani: Interesting trips in Ski Dubai and its streets

Bin Thani: The UAE has more depth than tall buildings and modern cities.

Photography: Youssef Al Harmoudi

From Skik Dubai and its old streets and popular markets, Emirati Mohammed Sultan bin Thani embarks on interesting trips accompanied by followers of his account on the “Instagram” site, to get to know the UAE society on the reality, away from the superficial image presented by some accounts through social networking sites, where he feels The follower of the account is closer to the media channel than to a personal account, because of the diversity of content. He stressed that the Emirates includes what is deeper than tall buildings and modern cities, whether it is an original heritage or a man who made, built, ventured and worked hard.

In his interview with "Emirates Today", Mohammed bin Thani believes that "amid this huge amount of social media channels, it has become difficult to find accounts that provide meaningful social content with a clear message aimed at presenting the UAE society in a beautiful and positive way, reflecting the successes and distinguished projects, and linking the past. In the present, by focusing on local, citizen and resident personalities that reflect a positive trend, whether he is a merchant, employee, or seller in the fish market and other personalities.”

Starting from the fish market

Bin Thani explained that the beginning of his entry into the field of social networking was in 2009 through “Twitter”, before he discovered “Instagram” in 2013, and found that he was closer to his personality as he mixed between the cinema that he studied and loved, and the press that he loved and adored. Pointing out that "Instagram" in its beginnings only allowed posting pictures, but the combination of pictures and writing allowed him a great opportunity to present various topics and journalistic investigations, so the fish market in Deira was the beginning by providing daily coverage of market events and fish prices, and then expanded to cover Other markets such as the vegetable and fruit market, and from here the fame of his account began. He added: "The fish market gave me the opportunity to meet many personalities who formed a beautiful and fertile material, such as Uncle Mubarak and Issa Balminon, and through him I formed beautiful and continuous friendships... But the most important thing in the matter is that what is transmitted on (Instagram) was like a cinema of reality through beautiful characters." I follow her daily life.He pointed out that the general orientation that he focuses on in the topics he publishes through his account includes focusing on the local, commercial, social and tourism aspects. Pointing out that this trend crystallized more clearly with time, the increase in the popularity of the account. He added: “I was looking to provide a useful level by virtue of my experience as a writer and journalist, and at that time I was writing critical readings for films and covering technical news related to radio and television, but to diversify the areas that I cover, I wandered around the Ras markets in Dubai in search of various topics and ideas for the newspaper, and this is what He helped me today to present a meaningful and distinguished level.”“I was looking to provide a useful level by virtue of my experience as a writer and journalist, and at that time I was writing critical readings for films and covering technical news related to radio and television, but to diversify the areas that I cover, I wandered around the Ras markets in Dubai in search of various topics and ideas for the newspaper, and this helped me today. In providing a targeted and distinguished level.”“I was looking to provide a useful level by virtue of my experience as a writer and journalist, and at that time I was writing critical readings for films and covering technical news related to radio and television, but to diversify the areas that I cover, I wandered around the Ras markets in Dubai in search of various topics and ideas for the newspaper, and this helped me today. In providing a targeted and distinguished level.”

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Bin Thani says that his film studies and journalistic work, then many years of government work in the Dubai Land Department, provided him with great experiences in many fields, especially in the areas of planning, institutional excellence and customer care, and this experience was reflected in providing useful content aimed at reflecting a positive image of Different aspects of society, whether it is through a juice seller in the market or food and spice dealers and others.

He considers that one of the things he is most happy about is that his account is a reason for the success of the work of a persistent and distinguished young citizen in his work, but he needs a media boost and he cannot afford to organize expensive media campaigns, so he provides such a service to him for free

Bin Thani stressed his refusal to convert his account into an economic activity, pointing out the importance of the country's tourism authorities' support for him and other similar accounts.

He added: “I have resisted and am still resisting converting my account to a commercial account, as I receive dozens of requests daily for paid advertising coverage. In return, I am keen to choose topics and works that I think are interesting and present them to people. Moving away from paid advertising content has given me the opportunity to present topics. Purposeful cultural and social and pull the viewer.

It is a source of pride for me that many of the personalities and topics that I present have caught the attention of the official media and presented them through their official channels.

Therefore, we look forward to supporting our accounts by entities such as the tourism and culture departments in the country so that we can continue to provide a diverse material that serves everyone, instead of heading to serving businesses that pay for a commercial.”

Unpublished videos

Muhammad bin Thani pauses in front of some of the stories he presented and had a great impact on him, explaining: “Many are the personalities and stories that made me personally happy, as through this account I was able to change the course of some people’s lives through the initiative of many followers to adopt their issues and search for solutions to them. And I mention among these stories the initiative of Dr. Abdullah Al-Naqi to treat Uncle Mubarak’s eyes, and to buy a fishing boat for Jesus, in addition to many other stories that are difficult to talk about in detail, and because of them I felt that what I am doing has a social benefit.” Pointing out that there are still many ideas, topics and personalities that he wished to meet, but he stops either for lack of capabilities or because of these personalities' refusal to talk to the camera, considering that the most difficult situations when he shoots a video and then refuses to publish it, and they are many videos with him, but he cannot publish them.

On the other hand, Bin Thani criticized the transformation of some accounts into platforms to present a negative and vulgar image of society and its members.

Expressing his hope that each account holder will have the ability to choose an appropriate level for the content he offers, and bear in mind that the whole world sees what he offers, and therefore he must have a positive reflection of which he is proud.

Stories and characters

Despite the effort he makes in selecting and implementing the content of his account on “Instagram”, Mohammed bin Thani considered that it does not represent an appropriate tool for documenting and archiving heritage, “but it is a way to draw attention to the fact that there is something deeper in the history and heritage of the UAE than just high-rise buildings and landmarks;

There is a person who made, built, ventured and worked hard, and the UAE in general and Dubai in particular was and still is an important commercial center in the region, and I aspire to more meetings and draw attention to this fact, and transforming the topics I present into documentaries is a beautiful work that I leave to the specialists.”

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Bin Thani: “Amidst this huge number of social media channels, it has become difficult to find accounts that provide meaningful social content.”

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