By Saleh Fareed

Saudi Gazette

JEDDAH — Jeddah Foundation recently celebrated the seventh anniversary of the establishment of the "Jeddah Now" account amid the official presence of a number of government agencies and representatives of the press and social media celebrities.

The ceremony included a review of the most important stages of Jeddah Now's account on all electronic platforms in addition to launching the website in its new format.

“Jeddah Now's account # Jeddah on social communication means all about Jeddah around-the-clock,” said Abdullah Al-Qassim, co-founder.

"The Jeddah Now account was completely revamped in December 2012. It started with my personal effort in a very simple way as I was covering every news and event occurring in and around the city. After my son Saad graduated from the United States, he and his friends began to focus on the account to develop it and make it an official account which can rely on by Jeddah residents,” he said.

He added: “Since the start of the Jeddah Now account we are always seeking to develop the possibilities in order to improve the content published on social media.”

From his side, Hussain Al-Amri, CEO of Jeddah Now announced during the celebration, the launch of "Jeddah Deserves More" initiative, through which the account aims to support the youth of Saudi Arabia by promoting the importance of the culture of volunteerism. The youth will be provided with a suitable environment by connecting them with the officially supported bodies. “Jeddah now is the official platform supporting volunteerism in Jeddah,” he said.

Commenting on this new initiative, Al-Qassim said: “The idea of launching this initiative is to enhance the important role of social networking platforms and faith in young Saudi people, which we always find at the forefront as a national model in all forums. This initiative helps to provide volunteering opportunities to the Saudi youth by connecting them with the competent authorities to provide all necessary activities in the field of volunteerism.”

It is worth noting that Jeddah Now account is now the largest one that covers one city, where the number of followers of the account on Twitter has reached over 2 million followers. The Jeddah Foundation now has other accounts with the same name on Instagram, YouTube and Snap Chat. Jeddah Now's account has recently received several awards, most notably from the Jeddah Chamber of Commerce at the Haya Jeddah Festival as the media sponsor.