Nobel Prize committee tweets to notify winners, wherever they may be
The Nobel Prize Committee had a message for 2013 prize winners this week: please pick up the phone.
The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), a watchdog against chemical weaponry worldwide, won this year's Nobel Peace Prize. But as the committee prepared to announce the award, it seems they were having some trouble locating the honourable recipient, so they turned to Twitter.
@OPCW Please contact us @Nobelprize_org we are trying get through to your office.
— Nobelprize_org (@Nobelprize_org) October 11, 2013
However, the first tweet didn't work, leading the Nobelprize_org Twitter account to move ahead with the announcement and tweet again.
The live webcast is now over. We are still trying to reach @OPCW — Nobelprize_org (@Nobelprize_org) October 11, 2013
Social media users joked about the communication mishap that briefly plagued the awarding of the world's most prestigious prize, some of them mentioning another contender for this year's Peace Prize, 16-year-old Malala Yousafzai.
Bet Malala would've answered the phone. RT @Nobelprize_org: @OPCW Please contact us @Nobelprize_org we are trying get through to your office
— Daniel Fisher (@DanFisherJourno) October 11, 2013
RT @Nobelprize_org: The live webcast is now over. We are still trying to reach @OPCW >>> Is this a parody? This is a parody. — Natasha Badhwar (@natashabadhwar) October 11, 2013
At nearly 7 a.m., the Nobel Prize account tweeted it had reached OPCW for a phone interview and posted the recording, in which the Director-General, Ambassador Ahmet Üzümcü, said the Nobel would provide "great incentive" for the elimination of chemical weapons.
[ Related: Retiring Canadian author Alice Munro wins Nobel Prize in Literature ]
OPCW wasn't the only Nobel Prize winner who proved difficult to reach; the committee also posted on Thursday it couldn't reach the Literature recipient, Canadian author Alice Munro.
The Swedish Academy has not been able to get a hold of Alice Munro, left a phone message. #NobelPrize #Literature
— Nobelprize_org (@Nobelprize_org) October 10, 2013
Anyone out there have a good number for Alice Munro? @Nobelprize_org trying to reach her. No big whoop, whenever. — Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) October 10, 2013
Peter Higgs found out he won the Nobel Prize in Physics this week when a driver pulled over in Edinburgh and congratulated him on the street, according to the Telegraph.