Queen Rania Ventures into Social Networking

Queen Rania of Jordan recently linked up to the Twitter website to discuss the issue of education and tweet about some of the latest things that had occurred in her engagement diary. Now, she is taking Facebook by storm and encouraging dialogue on social change, education and cross-cultural issues.

Besides making inroads into the social networking community, she began her quest for dialogue to disseminate stereotypes on her YouTube channel two years ago. The queen shared her YouTube channel dialogue success in a NPR interview last month and said, “YouTube was an incredible platform for me to be able to interact and to hear the points of view unedited, unfiltered, you know, to just see - to get the real information…the idea was to create the debate. And people did talk. They did bring out a lot of issues. There was a lot of discussion, and there were a lot of friendships forged. And a lot of these stereotypes were exposed. And it's not until you really interact with the side, where you try to see things from their eyes that you start to empathize and understand.”

Photo: Petra

Two Queens Make Forbes 100 Most Powerful Women List

Forbes.com announced the 100 Most Powerful Women list this week and two queens made the cut amidst the cross-section of corporate giants and politicians.

Queen Elizabeth II ranked at number fifty-eight and Queen Rania of Jordan was marked at number ninety-six. Elizabeth celebrated her sixtieth wedding anniversary last November. The British queen is the oldest reigning monarch surpassing her great-great grandmother, Queen Victoria, last December. Meanwhile, her royal counterpart, Queen Rania opened a dialogue amongst the YouTube community to controvert the common misconceptions and stereotypes in Middle Eastern culture. The Jordanian queen started the project in March and wrapped up the dialogue on August 12th.

The Forbes.com article, The World's Most Powerful Women, can be read here.

Queen Rania Gives Instructions to Effectively Dispel Stereotypes

Two weeks ago, Queen Rania of Jordan showed a humourous side to fighting sterotypes in the following link. This week, she gives instructions to creating YouTube clips to dispel stereotypes in the ongoing effort to increase dialogue amongst the YouTube community. The queen believes in those willing to make the effort and produce video clips which fight against negative stereotypes “can open people’s minds” and “can create change.”

Below is Queen Rania’s YouTube video How to break it down.

Queen Rania Addresses Google Zeitgeist Europe '08 Partner Forum

Queen Rania of Jordan was in Hertfordshire on Monday to speak at the exclusive Google Zeitgeist Partner Forum Europe '08. In her speech, she reiterated the importance of dialogue and mentioned the recent launching of her YouTube channel “to try to dismantle the negative stereotypes about {the Middle East} region that undermine so much trust between the Arab world and the West.” The queen has received over a million hits to her video blog which was introduced in March. Rania expressed her optimism with the project and said, “for all the tensions, most people on both sides agree that the relationship between the Muslim and Western worlds is something important to them.

“Not only {have} that, but when people actually get to know one another personally, their preconceptions melt away and their attitudes towards one another improve.”

“And here’s the best part: A journey of a thousand miles can begin with a single click. With new technologies, we don’t have to leave home to make a friend half a world away.”

As she closed her remarks, the queen expressed her desire to empower the next generation with skills and opportunities that insured global success in the workplace with the following statement: “In a world where stereotypes are assumed to be the norm, would two twenty-something kids working out of their parents’ basement ever have had the chance to turn a research project into a worldwide synonym for fun, innovation and success?”

“We must make sure that the same chances are there for the Pages and Brins of the Arab world…that they have the same opportunities of walking out of garage doors into global boardrooms…and that executives don’t shut those doors because they think they know what to expect from the Middle East.”

“You can help empower the Google generation– not only in the online world, but in the one world we call home.”

The entire speech by Queen Rania at the Google Zeitgeist Partner Forum Europe’08 can be read here.

Photo: Petra

Queen Rania Elucidates on the Issues of Arab Women

Yesterday, Queen Rania of Jordan released another video on YouTube to address some of the pressing questions regarding the treatment and freedoms of Arab women. In the process, she is asking for additional dialogue from YouTubers. Rania wants you to share with her “your experiences of how women all over the world are overcoming social, economic and cultural barriers.”

Below is the YouTube video Jordan’s Queen Rania On Arab Women.

Queen Rania Grateful for YouTube Dialogue

Yesterday, Queen Rania of Jordan expressed her gratitude regarding the dialogue amongst YouTubers in a new video called "Queen Rania Responds". As the comments have been flooding in, the queen said, “I am very pleased with the responses and the reactions that I received from you all. So thank you YouTubers for taking the time to share your thoughts with me." The queen was longanimous in regards to the adverse criticism and said, “some of the input I received was very positive; others were quite critical, but that is okay because debate is part of the dialogue. We don’t always have to agree to get along so please keep the feedback coming in.”

The glamourous queen in the past week has received well over a million views to her YouTube Exclusive video: Send Me Your Stereotypes.

Below is the YouTube video: Queen Rania Responds.