Oman had its first Twitter gathering last night at Al Masa Mall. The main organizer of the event was blogger Sangeetha at Digital Oman who coordinated the process and planned the program. More than 25 users of Twitter attended, including male and female, locals and expats. A raffle was held at the beginning of the event and goodie bags were awarded to the attendees.
Blogger [R] at Dear Raed posted about the event saying:
overall 3ashra 3alla 3ashra (10/10)… next time i think it needs to be less formal and more relaxed so people can get a chance to talk more and get to know each other .. this can become a start to what can eventually become an official Omani On-Line community.. or maybe not ..
Blogger Muawiyah described the event in Arabic:
معظم الحاضرين كانت في أيديهم أجهزة الحاسوب الكفي، أو هواتف الآي فون وعن طريقها كانوا ينزلون آخر تحديثاتهم على تويتر، كنت قد حضرت وبي شوق للقاء بعض الأسماء التي أتابعها في النت إلا أن زحام المكان، وأيضا عدم تجانس الحاضرين على صعيد السن أو التعارف الجماعي جعلَ من الجلسة تعارفاً أكثر من نقاش، بعد الشاي جلسنا إلى طاولة وطفق العُمانيون يتحدثون عن الشؤون العُمانية. بالطبع كعادتي كنتُ فماً كبيراً ولم أتوقف عن الثرثرة، وغشرتُ عدائي الشديد للإعلام العُماني، كان البعض يتفق معي والبعض الآخر يتحدث بدبلوماسية، إلا أنني شعرتُ أن التحرّج يغلب على البعض الآخر. دخلنا في نقاشات عديدة حول مختلف المواضيع وبدأ الكل يعرِّف بنفسِه. هناك ربما أستطيع أن أقول أنني توقفت عن الشعور بالغربة ووجدت الكائن العُماني بداخل الجَميع
The majority of the attendees had handheld computers or iPhones from which they published their latest tweets. I arrived excited to meet a few of the names I follow on the next, but the crowds in the place and the difference in age and the unfamiliarity among people, made it more of a socializing event than a discussion. After tea, we sat at a table and the Omanis started talking about Omani issues. As usual, I was a big mouth and I did not stop blabbering, I reannounced my hatred for Omani media, some were in support and others spoke diplomatically, but I felt that some were overwhelmed with hesitation. We discussed many different topics and people started introducing themselves, I think I can say that at that moment I stopped feeling alienated and found the essence of Oman inside all the attendees.
On Twitter, Maithams tweeted that he expects to feel more comfortable using Twitter now that he knows the identity of other people online.
Muscati tweeted that he would like to have more similar gatherings:
All Twitter updates relating to this event were tagged by by #MuscatTwestival including picture updates.
