The USAbilAraby Twitter account began tweeting on February 9, 2011. Its first tweet read: 1. * Egypt #Jan25 تعترف وزارة الخارجية الأمريكية بالدور التاريخي الذي يلعبه الإعلام الإجتماعي في العالم العربي ونرغب أن نكون جزءاً من محادثاتكم In English: "The US State Department recognizes the historic role that social media is playing in the Arab world and we want to be part of your conversations #Jan25 #Egypt" Within hours of that first tweet, the account had roughly 300 followers; as of April 17, 2011, the account had 6,208 followers and was included on 194 lists.