UNHCR Innovation | Social Media, SMS Outreach to Refugees

As such, UNHCR next set up a Twitter profile in late 2013. The Twitter handle @ZaatariCamp currently has over eleven thousand followers. Not all of these are refugees; many are journalists or aid workers. In fact, surveys have shown that Facebook remains more popular among the camp community than Twitter. Nonetheless, the added channel provides the agency with a newsfeed of its own, and opened the possibility for live, virtual exchanges, which can be followed by the public. Although only a few exchanges of this sort between camp officials and residents have so far taken place, these were noteworthy for their horizontal tone, suggesting that some refugees may feel more comfortable voicing criticism via Twitter.