In 2014, China stepped up its campaign to shape international norms governing the Internet, moving vigorously in its public diplomacy and behind the scenes to subjugate the online world to state power.

The Pentagon dismissed an attack on its social media sites Monday as “cybervandalism,” hitting back at an aggressive effort by supporters of the Islamic State to wrest control of Twitter and YouTube accounts belonging to U.S. Central Command.

For diplomats and diplomatic institutions, social media has become an important working tool as it enables them to gather and disseminate information throughout the diplomatic milieu in real time.

The Twitter account for U.S. Central Command was apparently hacked on Monday, with pro-ISIS messages plastering the account's profile.  The first message was posted at 12:29 p.m. ET, with the words "AMERICAN SOLDIERS, WE ARE COMING, WATCH YOUR BACK. ISIS." and the hashtag "#CyberCaliphate."

If 9/11 made global viewers of us, the massacre in Paris was the moment when online media was where readers gathered.

It’s a term that seems so obviously dreamed up in a government boardroom; something to do with the developed world’s constantly advancing technologies and foreign relations.  In short, digital diplomacy is a means for foreign governments to engage with a country’s people rather than its government.

Following the attack on satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo that left 12 people dead Wednesday in Paris, Twitter users around the world showed their solidarity using the hashtag #JeSuisCharlie, or “I am Charlie.” As of this writing, the hashtag has been used 3.7 million times.