Editor’s note: This article was first published in March 2011; it is a news item from shortly after the Egyptian uprising and the fall of Hosni Mubarak in February 2011.
As we all know, Egypt has been through a major uprising in which social media played a key role in allowing its people to express themselves and be heard around the world. An Egyptian couple has decided to name their first daughter “Facebook” in gratitude for what this social network has done for the country.
The girl’s full name will be Facebook Jamal Ibrahim. It is the couple’s way of celebrating the fall of the dictator Mubarak, and the girl will be a symbol of freedom of expression in Egypt.
While in many places there are endless debates about whether social networks are good or bad and about privacy, in Egypt nobody questions it: every day people are grateful for the Internet, and above all for Facebook and Twitter.
Further reading
- Who’s behind Facebook? The hidden side of the social network
Featured image: Mona, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
