Time lists Syrian girl from Aleppo as most influential internet personality

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region (Kurdistan24) – Time Magazine recognized an 8-year-old Syrian girl who used Twitter to seek international support while in besieged Aleppo as one of the most influential people on the internet.

Time decides its annual list based on people with global impact on social media and in creating news headlines.

Eight-year-old Bana Alabed is joined by the likes of US President Donald Trump, renowned British author J.K. Rowling, pop singer Rihanna, and celebrity icon Kim Kardashian.

The young Syrian girl’s mother, Fatemah Alabed, helped manage the @AlabedBana Twitter account where Bana would upload pictures and videos of her daily life in war-torn Syria.

The account gained over 365,000 followers since September 2016.

“I can’t go out because of the bombing, please stop bombing us,” the 8-year-old wrote when she first joined the social media network on Sep. 24.

“Aleppo is [a] very good city, but we need peace,” she wrote in another tweet. “I want to live like a child, but instead I am stressed now.”

Bana and her family were led to safety from the rebel-held eastern part of Aleppo to Turkey last December.

The family was received by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan at his palace.

The young Syrian girl’s tweets are always demonstrative of her optimistic attitude and belief in humanity.

Bana’s posts suggest she has faith there will be peace in Syria and the war will eventually end.

She even wrote an open letter to Russian President Vladimir Putin and Syrian President Bashar al-Assad urging them to “stop the bombing [and] save the children of Syria.”