So what does digital diplomacy even mean? In short, it means a government putting out it’s foreign policy messages via social media channels, looking to engage in dialogue with the target countries. It’s not without some controversy and there are those who suggest it’s just a form of cultural export…

This new tool will enable us to improve our communication with Arab-speaking audiences and will complement the France Diplomatie website in Arabic as well as the websites of our embassies and consulates in the countries of the region.

The Senate report, " Latin American Governments Need to 'Friend' Social Media and Technology " was written at the request of U.S. Senator Richard G. Lugar (R-IN) in order to assess the U.S. Department of State's use of digital diplomacy.

What is the role of social media in the modern diplomacy? Yaron Gamburg, the spokesperson for the Israeli embassy in Paris and the organizer of the Digital Diplomacy workshop, attempts an answer.

The U.S. Department of State has designated January 2012 as 21st Century Statecraft month. Twenty-first Century Statecraft complements traditional foreign policy by harnessing and adapting the digital networks and technologies of today’s interconnected world.

...of course an important part of diplomacy is public diplomacy, so that is how our country internationally connects with ordinary people,” he said.... He noted there were lots of ways for the British government to connect with local citizens, but the most important way was online with the use of blogs and social networking sites Facebook and Twitter.

The US Embassy in Jakarta has generated a fan base of 430,000 Indonesians with its two-year-old Facebook page. Embassy staffers have been operating the Facebook site as a base for public engagement, conversation, news, culture and tourism promotion.