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Al Etihad
06-07-2025
- Business
- Al Etihad
'The ChatGPT of Abu Dhabi': 92,000-member social media community fosters a culture of kindness
6 July 2025 22:58 KIRSTIN BERNABE (ABU DHABI)Anyone familiar with the Facebook group Abu Dhabi Q&A (ADQA) would agree that it could be the Google or the ChatGPT of the this community page, members can ask just about anything related to life in the UAE capital - from how to get traffic fine discounts and where to find affordable 2-bedroom flats for rent, to restaurant tips, and even parenting and marriage while ChatGPT can deliver answers in seconds, it can't comfort an anxious mother or broadcast a marriage proposal "to any woman". No AI bot can drive out in the middle of the night to help someone find a life-saving feeding tube for a seriously ill ADQA community has done all of this - and much more - over the past 12 years. Now with 92,000 members and counting, the private Facebook group broadcasts dozens of posts every day with members actively helping each other Jaffar, the founder of ADQA, doesn't think ChatGPT can replace the group, even if such bots can answer all essential how-to questions."The magic of the group isn't in the answers, it's in the community. The real people and their real stories," Jaffar, an Abu Dhabi resident for 17 years now, told the Year of Community, ADQA stands as proof of how human connections - even in an online space - can create a culture of kindness and compassion. How It All StartedJaffar founded the online community in January 2013 out of a need for "accurate, real-time information in the city". "Back then, I felt Google 'failed' Abu Dhabi. There was no reliable online space that acted like a local citizen's advice bureau where you could simply ask a question and get a trustworthy answer," she expat, who moved from London to Abu Dhabi in 2008, started the group with 70 of her friends on Facebook."What began as a small, practical solution to a personal challenge grew into something far bigger: a community-powered network of knowledge, kindness and connection," she there are dozens of similar groups on Facebook, ADQA stands out for the values it has consistently upheld through the years: accessibility, transparency and community."What sets ADQA apart is that it was created with no business motive or agenda. I started it purely to help, and I've stayed true to that," Jaffar said. An Unforgettable MomentFor many of the group's members, ADQA is a reminder of the good in humanity. Helena Jordan has seen firsthand how strangers are willing to go out of their way to lend a hand during a difficult a learning assistant who lived in Abu Dhabi with her family for 16 years, clearly recalls a core memory from 10 years ago, when her dad in Serbia was in critical condition and needed a particular feeding tube that was nowhere to be found. She raced against time as she had to catch a flight within hours, at 2am, and bring the life-saving tube to her father."In my panic, the only other thing I could think about was to post in the Abu Dhabi Q&A group," she said. The post garnered almost 200 responses within reached out with ideas on where to find such a tube. There were pharmacists who went back to their sites to check if they had it in stock. One orthodontist quickly drove to Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi and coordinated with senior doctors on good Samaritan was able to help Jordan pack two different feeding tubes into her suitcase, in the hopes that one of them would help her father. None of them worked, and by the time the family managed to get one from Croatia, Jordan's father was already in a coma and all they could do was wait."Ten years later, the pain still feels fresh; however, every time I think of my father, I am reminded of the wonderful community of strangers who became friends, of people who sent prayers and offered their help - the amazing people of ADQA," she said. Rays of PositivityAnother group member, Muhil Sureshkumar, turned to the group during a vulnerable moment as a mother and "never expected the overwhelming wave of love, prayers and strength that followed". At that time, her newborn son was battling a rare congenital heart defect. "I was flooded with messages of encouragement and hope from complete strangers who became my pillars of strength," said the expat who hails from Sri will never forget how Jaffar went above and beyond her role as group moderator."She visited me at my home after I returned from the hospital with my baby, just to make sure I was okay. In a city where I had no extended family, her presence was a blessing. It wasn't just her kindness, it was her selfless nature, her genuine care, her quiet strength that held me during a time I was falling apart," said the expat, an AI engineer who runs her own online tutoring academy. Trust as Currency, not AlgorithmsRunning ADQA has completely shaped Jaffar's life as a resident of Abu Dhabi. "Behind every post is a person sometimes in need, sometimes angry, sometimes lost, but always seeking connection. And managing that space has taught me how to read people without ever seeing them," Jaffar a moderator, she makes sure posts are kind, polite and family-friendly, and urges members to be aware of the UAE's cyber the years, Jaffar has learnt that "digital spaces are deeply human"."I discovered that trust is the true currency online and not likes, not reach, not algorithms. And once earned, it's powerful. Once broken, it's nearly impossible to rebuild," she posts are not all SOS entries. Community members do get a good laugh once in a fact, one of the most popular posts in the group was shared in 2017 by a "handsome Lebanese man, aged 32" who was looking for a woman to marry."She must be rich - age and nationality not important," read his post, which received almost 700 comments. He's now 40, and still not married, Jaffar said. While ADQA has changed lives and helped many, some problems are just beyond its reach. Source: Aletihad - Abu Dhabi
Daily Mirror
02-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mirror
Oasis traffic chaos as Cardiff hit by road closures for band reunion gigs
Oasis will make their return on Friday, July 4 and Saturday, July 5 to perform as a group for the first time in 16 years. As with other big events in Cardiff city centre, there will be some major roads closed around the capital in the hours ahead of the concerts Cardiff's Principality Stadium is set to host two monumental gigs this weekend, with Oasis making a much-anticipated comeback on Friday, July 4 and Saturday, July 5, marking their first group performance in 16 years. As Cardiff city centre braces for the influx of music fans, significant road closures will be implemented around the capital in preparation for the concerts, which open their doors at 5pm. For the Oasis concerts, city centre roads will be shut from midday and are expected to reopen at the stroke of midnight. A Cardiff Council spokesperson earlier in June advised: "The M4 motorway is expected to be very busy for these concerts - so please plan ahead - and avoid the congestion in Cardiff by using the park and ride at the car park by the Vindico Arena on International Drive in the Sports Village - CF11 0JS. "For up-to-date traffic information on the motorway and trunk roads, go to the Traffic Wales website, or @TrafficWalesS on Twitter and Facebook.", reports Wales Online. Concertgoers are being urged to meticulously plan their journey and arrive in Cardiff early. It's also important to heed the list of prohibited items, especially the bag policy which disallows large bags, before heading into the city. What roads will be closed? From 7am, Scott Road and Park Street will be shut due to preparations at gate five and to ensure the safety of queuing fans. A full city centre road closure will be in effect on July 4 and 5, commencing at 12noon and lasting until midnight. Access to certain areas of the civic centre will be regulated throughout the day, with entry permitted only for event parking, limited commuter parking, loading and access to private car parks. Roads impacted include King Edward VII Avenue, Museum Avenue, City Hall Road, College Road and Gorsedd Gardens Road. Noel Gallagher has spoken out ahead of playing live shows to Oasis fans. In the Oasis tour programme, he has been explaining why they are loved by music fans, young and old. He said: "A new generation recognises how Oasis wasn't manufactured. It was chaotic, and flawed, and not technically brilliant. We were rough and ready guys from a rehearsal room, and people recognised it... 'I didn't invent anything. I had good taste in music, a cool record collection, I could write a melody simple enough to make it work, and it was 50% inspiration and 50% copying."
BBC News
16-04-2025
- Business
- BBC News
'Getting Instagram to fix my account was almost traumatising'
When wedding dress designer Catherine Deane saw her company's Instagram account get hacked, she says it was "devastating"."It felt like the rug had been pulled from under us. Instagram is our primary social platform, and we've invested the most amount of time and business resources into it."To keep the account current we post content every day. Suddenly all this work… it was just pulled."Ms Deane's UK-based business, which is named after her, sells wedding dresses online, with her biggest market being the Instagram it now has 59,000 followers, but a few years ago the firm lost control of the account after a member of its social media team received a message suggesting that the business had been selected to get blue-badge verification from Instagram, which is owned by Facebook's was the stamp of authenticity that Ms Deane had long sought. "We were obviously very excited about that," she says. So her employee opened a link to what turned out to be a fake Instagram verification form that requested log-in credentials. She filled it in, divulging the username and password, and shortly afterwards the account was taken over by added to Ms Deane's anguish was that she says she had to fight with Meta to get her account back, which took four she filled out the admin dispute form and sent it off, but heard nothing. Multiple emails followed but no action was taken."It's so incredibly frustrating when you're dealing with your account being hacked and there is no-one to talk to," she says. "It's almost traumatising because there is no-one who understands and can help escalate it."Eventually an email came from Meta, telling her that the case was closed, even though she was still unable to access her the end the matter was finally resolved for Ms Deane because someone in the firm had a contact at Facebook, and the team emailed that person daily for the four months."Finally, I think they just needed to get us off their backs and they reinstated the account," says Ms Deane. According to Jonas Borchgrevink, boss of US-based cyber security firm Ms Deane is far from a unique case among people with business accounts on Instagram and Facebook."I would say that it is a massive problem," says Mr Borchgrevink. "There are probably thousands every day that are losing their business pages."His company helps firms recover their Instagram and Facebook accounts, and he gets "10 to 15 clients per week". "But those are just the ones that know about us and are able to pay the price, because these cases can take up to six months to sort."The BBC asked Meta to provide some numbers that would reveal the extent of the problem, and how it was tackling it, but it it said in a statement, that "we take the safety and security of our community seriously and encourage everyone to create a strong password, enable two factor authentication and to be suspicious of emails or messages asking for personal details."We also have a feature called Security Check-up to help people keep their Instagram and Facebook accounts secure." Hackers want to take over business social media accounts for a number of reasons. These including using the pages to sell fake products or place scam adverts, harvesting personal information, spreading malware, tricking people into sending money, or blackmailing the company in question to unblock the last of these happened last year to David Davila, who is part of the marketing team at Quantum Windows & Doors, a small, family-run business based in Washington state in the got locked out of the firm's social Facebook account when he responded to what turned out to be a fake message purporting to be from his phone number was linked to the account, that also fell into the hands of the scammers and, soon after the lock-out, he got a WhatsApp message demanding $1,200 (£900) to unlock the to find a helpline, he searched on Google, but the number he rang put him through to more scammers. That link has since been removed by Mr Davila was able to get the Facebook account unlocked a few days later. Mr Borchgrevink believes that Meta is overwhelmed by the scale of the problem."It has implemented different security measures over the years and yet we still receive the same amount of clients, so I don't think there's been a lot of change there," he fact, with scammers now utilising AI to make their messages seem even more believable, Mr Borchgrevink thinks the situation could get a lot tells the BBC that scammers are behind many of these lock-outs and one of their preferred methods of fooling people is to masquerade as customer support agents."They pretend to be Meta Support and send the business an email saying that they have infringed some kind of copyright or broken terms and conditions in some way, and that they need to verify themselves."The messages have the Facebook logo and are very believable. But when you start to verify your business page, they ask for the password and redirect you to a fake Meta site to steal log-ins."He said that the fraudsters often target a personal Facebook page first, because all business accounts need to be linked to one."Your personal account will also have admin rights to your business account. The scammers go into your business account and transfer the admin rights to their own or to fake profiles."Then they go back to your personal account and disable it by posting inappropriate content like terror-related or pornography-related. That disables your account and makes it really hard to recover either that or your business account." The BBC has also learned of businesses losing access to their Facebook and Instagram accounts despite them not being small business which is part of franchise, told the BBC that they lost access to their account when another franchisee gained a blue-tick verification. As a result of that their account was flagged as a others, such as digital marketer Chetha Senadeera, say that Meta has wrongly closed business autumn he realised that a Facebook page he managed for a mobile bank had gone missing. "It had just disappeared," he says."There was no notification to me or any of the team members. It was just gone. It was like it had been kidnapped, almost."The page was a crucial gateway to customers across Europe for Lithuania bank Senadeera says that the customer support agents he spoke to at Meta, Facebook's owner, were baffled. He says they told him that they could see the page, but that it had been restricted, and that they couldn't unblock months later, and the page remains tells the BBC that the page had been removed for violating its scams policies, via a link on the page that was flagged by its systems as potentially Senadeera disputes that the firm has ever posted any harmful or misleading content. He says that Meta needs to do more, and move more quickly, to help firms get their Facebook and Instagram pages back, whether they have been a victim of fraud or not.
BBC News
25-03-2025
- Entertainment
- BBC News
Leeds McDonald's sign correction creates unlikely social media hit
A man's efforts to fix a "mildly irritating" error on a McDonald's restaurant sign has become an unexpected hit online, earning him "employee of the month".Steve Lovell spotted the first 'D' had a missing centre at Leeds' White Rose Shopping Centre, prompting the 50-year-old to take matters into his own using his 3D printer to complete the letter on Wednesday, he proudly shared his handiwork on social media - prompting thousands of responses. Mr Lovell, from Rothwell, said: "I think it's the whole pointlessness of this that has caught people's attention." Despite not working at the shopping centre, he was presented with a framed recognition of his actions following his gallant pedantry. "Not many people would notice a sign missing bits from it, fewer still would be bothered by it and practically no-one at all would bother to spend time and effort actually rectifying it," he explained. More than one million people saw an online post about his fix via the Dull Men's Group, gaining more than 50,000 "likes" on Facebook."The fix wasn't even for the benefit of McDonald's as some people claim," he said."It was for me, and anyone else that would have noticed."He added: "Sharing it was just about the mundane absurdity."Thanking Mr Lovell on social media, White Rose Shopping Centre said: "We hold our hands up, this one is on us. "Thank you Steve, our March employee of the month, for your selfless work - we're lovin' it." Listen to highlights from West Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, catch up with the latest episode of Look North.
BBC News
09-03-2025
- Business
- BBC News
The Swansea cafe asking customers to ditch phones and laptops
A cafe in Swansea has banned phones and laptops for one evening a month in an attempt to encourage customers to have more meaningful Wilson, owner of Ground Plant Based Coffee in Brynmill, said she disliked the pressure of having her own devices turned on at all times and wanted to offer "a space for people to connect".She said the response to the cafe's "offline nights" had been positive so far, adding: "There were strangers sat on tables together, and a lot of skill sharing such as knitting and crocheting."The average person in the UK spends four hours and 20 minutes online each day, according to the latest Ofcom research. Helen, who opened her cafe in 2021, said she was inspired to begin the offline nights after seeing similar events in London and Amsterdam."My personal use of my mobile and devices was something I was aware of, the pressure of having my device on at all times," she said. "I really loved the idea offering a space for people to connect, which is why I've decided to do this monthly going forward," Helen said during the offline night, during which she played music from old tapes on two ghetto blasters, the cafe had a "relaxed and happy vibe".The biggest difference, Helen noticed, was that "people [were] talking to each other"."We had a real mixture of ages from teenagers, to couples and elderly people."So what did the customers think?Will and George, who are both students at Swansea University, said they were unaware that it was an "offline night" when they first me up for a coffee at the cafe. "We saw the sign on the door and thought 'why not'," said Will, although he admitted "secretly" hoping it was not happening when he first saw the spending 45 minutes screen-free, he said he was "glad" he came said he felt like he was "constantly" on his phone, with TikTok and Instagram being his most used much time do they spend on their phones each day?George said he spent around seven hours, while Will said his average was more like nine hours. Another customer, Elisabet, came to the cafe after seeing the event advertised on Facebook."It was really relaxing to sit there without my phone," she said."I usually spend my days watching videos on TikTok, so it's nice to come here and relax."Paula, who also attended the event, said she felt "anxious" about coming into town without being able to go on her phone."I regularly go down the beach without my phone, but coming into a cafe in town made me a lot more anxious," she said."It felt ridiculous signing off before I went in," she added, after messaging her friends to say that she would speak to them again in two hours. At the Alpine Coffee Shop in Betws-y-Coed, Conwy, the owners have taken a different approach - by getting rid of customer rural location in the village means that not everyone receives a mobile phone signal who works in the cafe, said many customers had welcomed the change."There are a lot of people who feel pressure to be on their phone and answer everything, but it's nice to have a coffee and a minute to just enjoy the situation and enjoy Betws-y-Coed," she said."We don't really get a lot of people asking about wi-fi, and that's a good thing I think." 'Detoxing can break the habit' A recent study by accounting firm Ernst & Young found 38% of UK consumers were concerned about having too much screen half (47%) of 18 to 34-year-olds surveyed said they viewed their online activities as more disruptive than beneficial to their well-being. Phil Reed, a professor of psychology at Swansea University, said anything that breaks the habit should be "welcomed"."Detoxing can help break that habit because it stops you just engaging in it and anything that breaks the habit, anything that stops the pattern is really, really helpful," he said."Anything that develops old-fashioned social contact linking people together outside that medium of digital communication, which is very constraining."
