In a world full of social media platforms, it is hard to stand out and to raise your voice. It takes a huge effort to be heard over social media because you’re not the only one who is trying to make a statement or to raise awareness.
Despite its difficulty, some people manage to accomplish this and LinkedIn proved it. The platform proved that People’s voices matter for 2 years in a row.
2020 Top Voices List
LinkedIn is the most powerful and famous professional network across the globe. It is the place where you can learn and gain more experience from other people and find many job opportunities.
People take LinkedIn to express their opinions regarding work, economics, business, and everything related to work-life. No matter what your work industry is, you will find topics related to it there.
Today, LinkedIn announced its second annual Top Voices list in the Gulf. The list includes 15 local experts who lead professional conversations on the platform. These experts reached this through their posts, articles, videos, analysis, and insights.
The Selection’s Rules
LinkedIn selected these experts because of their discussions and how meaningful and beneficial they are. The LinkedIn team considered how they are engaging the audience on each topic and how they always keep the audience informed with the latest updates.
LinkedIn leveraged a combination of qualitative and quantitative signals. Lynn Chouman and Salma Altantawy who are LinkedIn’s MENA editors studied engagement among regional professionals. Those professionals share insights from their area of expertise. Both Chouman and Altantawy also looked into the consequent conversations these professionals bring through the comments and share.
Not only that but they also take into consideration the frequency of posting and the growth of followers. Also, LinkedIn has curated the list by assessing how insightful these experts are, how conversational, and if they give and receive help.
MENA News Editor at LinkedIn, Salma Altantawy said: “As a result of the pandemic, conversations and engagement across the platform significantly increased this year as members sought to utilize the platform to learn, inform, remain up to date with the latest developments and share their thoughts on topics that are important to them. At LinkedIn, we aim to foster an environment where professionals are empowered to share their expert opinions to inspire impactful conversations. The GCC region’s Top Voices 2020 list celebrates these individuals who, throughout the year, have played an influential role in this thriving social and professional community.”
Professionals From GCC Who Made It to 2020 List
The list includes many important names with important positions.
- Alaa Alhashem, Business and Financial Advisor
- Arjun Vir Singh, Board Member, MENA Fintech Association
- Claudia Vergueiro Massei, CEO, Siemens Oman
- David Mackenzie, Group Managing Director, Mackenzie Jones Group &
Founder, Women@Work ME - Israa Garatli, Founder, Resume Reborn
- Loic Morel, Head of Trade Finance, Arab Petroleum Investments Corporation (APICORP)
- Lucy Chow, Senator representing UAE, World Business Angels Investment Forum (WBAF)
- Maisa Al-Haddad, Vice President, Treasury Investment, Gulf International Bank
- Mo Ali Yusuf, Regional Manager, Checkout.com
- Nada AlHarthi, Vice President of Business Affairs, Zain KSA
- Najla Al-Midfa, CEO, Sharjah Entrepreneurship Center (Sheraa)
- Nimer Yasin, Digital Payments Business Leader
- Riyadh Al-Najjar, KSA Country Leader – Transformation Management Leader, PwC Middle East
- Robert Abboud, MENA Financial Services Market Segment Leader, EY
- Zeta Yarwood, Executive Personal Development & Career Coach
The Diversity of The List
It is observable that the list celebrates diversity, relevance, and how leadership is dominating the platform. The list also shows how huge the effort the team put as they measured all sharing activity for 12 months; from October 1st, 2019 to September 30th, 2020.
To create an accurate and fair list, LinkedIn excluded their own employees along with Microsoft’s. LinkedIn excluded those who made it to the 2019 Top Voices list to give space for new voices.
It is a beautiful initiative from LinkedIn to appreciate those who help others. This list also shows that opinions and words do matter.
