From the moment he took office, Chávez deployed himself across existing platforms, using every available communications resource to present himself, his ideology and his policies directly to the public. Now, as his idiosyncratic rule runs up against limitations imposed by serious health problems, Chávez has found that...social media, is a most useful tool.

Social media allowed an ''unprecedented'' two-way exchange of information between the public and those given the task of preparing for and responding to major events such as earthquakes, floods and infection pandemics, said researchers. The technology allowed officials to ''push'' information to the public while at the same time ''pulling'' in valuable data from bystanders.

Modern public diplomacy has taken a new twist. This is a result of a change in media consumption from a one way broadcast medium to a two way dialogue. The result has been a shift from broadcasting to recruiting members of the public, or segments of civil society, to share your message indirectly. This can also be done by boosting the volume of existing fringe groups.

This past year, social media replaced traditional news outlets as an unrivaled source of information.The problem is, an unfiltered hashtag feed provides quality journalism in a haystack of foreign languages. So technically savvy outlets found that by editorially curating quality social media channels, they could cut out the noise associated with a raw Twitter feed and still relay key information at Internet speed.

I believe one of the greatest tasks of ASEAN lies in people to people. We are all agreed that a 21st century ASEAN, to be dynamic and relevant, must be people-centered and people-driven. For the first time, and in contrast to just four decades ago...

Israel Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Danny Ayalon released a new media video describing the historical facts of the Israel Palestinian conflict in a concise, easy to follow video on YouTube. The video explains where the terms "West Bank", "Occupied territories" and "1967 Borders" originated and how they are incorrectly used and applied.

Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon stars in a video released by his ministry on Thursday, in which he presents a historical narrative meant to help wage the public diplomacy battle. Ayalon’s office said that the video was meant to put forward Israel’s “long-standing but neglected position” ahead of the Palestinians’ attempt to have a unilaterally declared state recognized at the UN in September.

Dictators are toppling across the Arab world. What role has the Internet played in their demise? Young people went online to keep up with their friends and youth culture. In doing so, they became politicized. In Egypt, people shared a yearning to oust Hosni Mubarak, but each person was afraid to step forward. Once they saw how many other Egyptians agreed with them, they grew bolder.