Nobel Peace Prize Winner Notified Via Twitter

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By Samantha Murphy Kelly2013-10-11 14:31:19 UTC

When the Nobel Peace Prize committee couldn't reach the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) on Friday morning to announce its win, it turned to a platform that would help get its attention: Twitter.

The Nobel Prize's Twitter account (@Nobleprize_org) sent a tweet to the OPCW nearly 20 minutes after the announcement that the organization received the coveted honor.

The Nobel Prize organization was persistent via Twitter, tweeting that they had not yet been in touch with the OPCW — and tagging them in another tweet.

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The OPCW is the 22nd organization to receive this honor. The Noble Prize organization wrote in a tweet that OPCW won for "its extensive efforts to eliminate chemical weapons" and "its long standing work" — not because of recent events in Syria.

A few hours later, OPCW tweeted a response:

Earlier this week, Canadian author Alice Munro received a phone call that she had won the Nobel Prize for Literature — but she missed the call. She learned of the news via a voicemail message when the committee couldn't get her on the phone.

Sixteen-year-old Malala Yousufazi from Pakistan was widely believed to be the frontrunner for this year's Nobel Peace Prize. Despite her age, she has been fighting for female rights in education. She was shot in the head by an Islamist militant one year ago after standing up to the Taliban for girls' right to attend school and wasn't expected to live.

When the Nobel Peace Prize committee announced that OPCW would take home the Peace Prize, Yousufazi graciously tweeted a response:

Last year, the European Union won the Nobel Peace Prize.

Image: AFP/Getty Images

Topics: nobel peace prize, Twitter, U.S., US & World, World