As word of #We_Are_Coming_O_Rome spread across the Italian media, Rome residents took the opportunity to respond to the Islamic State. And they did so in an especially Roman way.  With warnings about the traffic.

Prime Minister Tony Abbott is facing an Indonesian social media backlash over his linking of $1 billion in tsunami aid to the mercy campaign for Bali Nine death-row inmates Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran, with a campaign urging people to collect coins to return to Australia.

This week, the U.S. government announced preparations to beef up its online campaign against extremist groups, especially the one known as the Islamic State, ISIS, or ISIL. Social media — especially Twitter — has become a powerful tool for extremists looking to lure potential recruits into the organization.

Progressives who believe that dialogues, conversations, engagements, conferences and summits are keys to pacifying the world have a peculiar solemnity about using certain words that are potentially insensitive. This mentality is perhaps especially acute in digitally drenched people who believe that Twitter and other social media have the power to tame turbulent reality.

There are a number of grassroots efforts that are taking to social media to undermine the dominant military paradigm for addressing international issues. One of them is the Peace Factory, who is building a bridge of communication between the people of the Middle East.

The hashtag #AshWednesday trended on Twitter today for the obvious reason: it's Ash Wednesday, the start of Lent, a 40-day period before Easter dedicated to fasting and prayer.  Yet accompanying that trend was another, more interactive hashtag: #ashtag.

The embittered battle against ISIS is making nations rethink how to approach social media as a weapon of war. Early this month, Britain announced its plans to form a battalion of "Facebook Warriors" in effort to battle ISIS's adept skills of recruiting through the platform, and also Twitter, YouTube, and other websites.

The 2014 CPD Annual Review demonstrates that although public diplomacy is present in every region of the world, it is predominantly in the northern hemisphere. North America is ranked the most active region in public diplomacy, with the United States contributing the most. Asia (Asia Pacific, Southeast Asia and Central Asia combined) comes in second, and Europe is third, with almost the same presence as Asia. As expected, China, Japan, and South Korea take the lead as the major actors in Asia Pacific. India is also very active in PD in South Asia.