Najib tweets on meeting CEO from Twitter headquarters
SAN FRANCISCO: Immediately after meeting Twitter CEO Dick Costolo, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak used his newly-acquired smartphone – an iPhone5 – to tweet about it.
There was a slight glitch though as it went to draft but with quick assistance from Costolo’s aide, Najib’s first tweet from the social media headquarters in Market Street here was sent within seconds.
With Costolo standing next to him, the Prime Minister tweeted: “Meeting Twitter CEO@dickc at Twitter HQ” and “Great Session at Twitter HQ. A wonderful platform to engage with Malaysians n the Global Community”.
Najib also appended a picture of himself shaking hands with Costolo with the blue Twitter corporate logoprintedona bunting in the background.
The Prime Minister had earlier arrived at the Twitter headquarters and was taken for a tour of the premises before sitting down with Costolo and his senior management team.
Accompanying Najib were Communication and Multimedia Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Shabery Cheek, Second Education Minister Datuk Seri Idris Jusoh, and officials and CEOs of several government linked companies (GLCs).
Twitter was launched in July 2006 and has rapidly gained worldwide popularity, with 500 million registered users in 2012 alone, posting 340 million tweets per day.
The Prime Minister is among the few world leaders who are very active in tweeting.
Speaking to reporters later, Najib said Twitter had indicated that it was willing to talk to the Malaysian government on working together, especially in enhancing its outreach to the people.
“I mentioned that one possibility is disaster alert and communication in respect of government policies. Another example is about Asean as a community – how do we raise people’s outlook to go beyond national interest and national identity and think as a Asean community by year 2015.
“You can use Twitter as a platform within the context of the entire Asean community,” he added.