Following the death of King Abdullah bin Abdul-Aziz, the newly crowned king of Saudi Arabia gained thousands of Twitter followers.
Shortly after the death of his half-brother on Jan. 23, Friday, Salman bin Abdul-Aziz Al Saud, 79, changed his Twitter name from @HRHPSalman to @KingSalman and hours later, his new handle received more than 130,000 mentions on the social network, according to social media analytics site Topsy.
Also, from 1.3 million, the new king's Twitter followers increased to 1.5 million, which is equivalent to 5 percent of the Saudi population. On the other hand, King Salman has yet to follow a single person himself.
"God rest the soul of Abdullah bin Abdul-Aziz and grant his people the best rewards in his separation," King Salman wrote on his Twitter account. He later on tweeted, "I am asking god to help me serve the dear people and realize their dreams, and protect our country and security and stability, and protect it from all evil."
Under King Salman, Saudi Arabia faces numerous challenges as the country is currently torn between al-Qaeda in Yemen to the south and an aggressive Islamic State (IS) to the north. Many Saudis deeply shun the fact that Saudi warplanes have joined the coalition in air strikes against IS, which is led by the United States.
Now, it is necessary for King Salman to solve the problem with the ongoing threat from jihadists as he ensures smooth passing of the succession without any divisive competing for power within the ruling family, according to BBC News.