The US president leads the pack of world leaders on Twitter, according to a new report, blowing by the competition with an about 43.7 million followers.  Next closest is Pope Francis at 14.1 followers, although the pontiff was named the most influential world leader on Twitter because of how much he's retweeted (10,000 retweets for every tweet.) He also has followers in nine different languages.

Foreign Office brings World War 1 diplomacy to life online with podcasts and live tweets. To mark 100 years to the day that the Archduke Franz Ferdinand was assassinated in Sarajevo, on 28 June the FCO will bring the events leading up to the outbreak of war vividly to life online. Known as the ‘July crisis’, the assassination sparked a diplomatic frenzy and, ultimately, led to the outbreak of World War 1 on 28 July 1914, with Great Britain joining the war on 4 August. 

Twitter is changing how diplomats interact and influencing how we see global leaders. From embarrassing tweets and international spats, the public is getting to see a different side of diplomacy, says a new study.

How social media changes our culture and our very lives is something many are researching today. A recent study praised Canada for their online diplomacy and also noted the sheer influence available online to Pope Francis.

The rise of social media in politics is no secret, and more and more world leaders are now turning to Twitter. According to Twiplomacy, a study by Burson-Marsteller, more than two-thirds (67.88%) of all heads of state and heads of government have personal accounts on the social network. For many diplomats, Twitter has becomes a powerful channel for digital diplomacy and 21st century statecraft. As of June 23, 2014, more than 80% of the UN member countries have a presence on Twitter. 

Canada is among a small group of countries that have Twitter accounts for most of their embassies and missions, a global study revealed Wednesday. The study, called Twiplomacy and conducted by the public relations firm Burson-Marsteller, looked at the use of the microblogging site by heads of state and by governments and ministers of foreign affairs.

There are plenty of reasons to learn Japanese. For one, the Japanese are Kings of "Soft Power", or cultural influence. The internet, videogames and children's cartoons are heavily influenced by the cute, cuddly touch of Japanese heritage. While some of this reaches us, it is only the tip of the iceberg.

For a man who delivered the biggest mandate for a single party in several decades through unprecedented leverage of digital space, it is but natural for Prime Minister Narendra Modi to seek the same space as a platform for good governance. Modi gave an inkling of things to come in his ‘victory speech’ after the election results were declared on May 16. It was not a winding, rhetoric-filled public speech but a short and crisp Twitter message, “India has won. Good days are ahead”.