Richard Engel Tweets Photo Of Egyptian Protesters With 'Thank You Facebook' Sign

On Friday, NBC News's chief foreign correspondent Richard Engel tweeted a photograph of an Egyptian demonstrator holding up a sign that reads, according to Engel, "Thank you Facebook."

Only the word "Facebook" is written in English on the demonstrator's sign, and while Engels claims that the Arabic writing says "thank you," @chickgonebad left the following comment on the photo: "For what it's worth, a friend fluent in Arabic tells me 'It says thank you youth of Egypt.'"

Citizens involved in Egypt's anti-government uprising have used social networks like Facebook and Twitter to organize and communicate with the rest of the world, despite the Egyptian government's attempt to ban the networks. Even during Egypt's five-day Internet blackout, Egyptians found innovative ways to get back online.

At the time of this tweet, Engel was in Cairo's Tahrir Square, where a massive crowd has gathered to demand that President Hosni Mubarak step down. Visit our live blog for continuing coverage of the protests.

You can view Engel's tweet and photo (below).

#egypt. Egyptian protester holding sign 'thank you facebook' http://yfrog.com/h3g76hjless than a minute ago via Twitter for BlackBerry®richard engel
richardengelnbc

LOOK:

Comments

[Martin Raul]

03:26 AM on 02/13/2011

Its good to see new scenarios in which facebook is used for good..

[xtiangodloki]

01:57 PM on 02/07/2011

Egypt has an internet population of roughly 20%. Social media such as facebook and twitter are used pretty much exclusively by the wealthy class, the same group of people who tend to be the biggest supporters of the existing regime.

Much of the back patting from US tech companies on their contribution to the arab "revolutions" are a bit silly.

[HappyMarsden]

02:51 PM on 02/06/2011

I teach Arabic and I can tell you for damz sure that that says

"DO NOT OPEN AN ACCOUNT ON FACEBOOK".

It's a warning folks, not a thank you.

[nomadicus]

07:09 PM on 02/06/2011

I can't say you are a liar but I can certainly confirm that you are a failed Arabic teacher. I am not a teacher of Arabic but I've got google Translations

Before Facebook http://goo.gl/wbm0d (Thank you ... Egyptian youth)

After Facebbok http://goo.gl/sK24b (Resisting... not moving)

[HappyMarsden]

01:10 PM on 02/07/2011

You shouldn't rely on Google translations. They're often wrong. Subtle nuances of dialects. That's why it says on the page "Please help us translate this into your language".

[Pumpski]

12:23 AM on 02/07/2011

It reads thank you I am fluent in Arabic. Don''t be a clown please

[HappyMarsden]

01:07 PM on 02/07/2011

It does not read "Thank you I am fluent in Arabic. Don't be a clown please". Because someone who writes in Arabic obviously does not need to say that he can write in Arabic.

And why would he hate clowns? Everyone loves clowns.

[LMPE]

02:29 PM on 02/06/2011

Mark Zuckerberg probably never expected this to happen

[Knowledgeseeker]

10:42 PM on 02/05/2011

they should also thank President Obama for using social media for democracy.

[Olderandwiser55]

01:41 PM on 02/05/2011

That's cool

[my2pesos]

02:12 AM on 02/05/2011

Facebook to Engel
"Your check is in the mail, Thank You"

[janie@atthelake]

04:34 PM on 02/04/2011

Wow! I love this photo! (& I don't have a facebook account...but I appreciate the uncensored communication)

[deepfreezevideo]

03:58 PM on 02/04/2011

Show your thanks by KEEPING UP the fight!!!!

[steve-annie]

02:47 PM on 02/04/2011

My guess is it says:

Thank you
Facebook
Youth of Egypt

As in, from the youth of Egypt.

[JoDeeVa]

06:40 PM on 02/07/2011

That's the translation I got from Twitter/ FB friends in Egypt...

[zelduh]

01:59 PM on 02/04/2011

Glad to see Engel wrote something. He disappeared from commenting on the web and NBC for 16 hours after the crack down.

[steve-annie]

02:48 PM on 02/04/2011

He was on MSNBC a lot, at all hours.