Several hundred people attended the première of “The Social Network” at Damascus’s only English-language cinema last month. The crowded theater highlighted the wide use of the film’s subject – Facebook – despite the Syrian government banning the site in 2007. Since then, Facebook’s popularity has surged in Syria.

The office of 84-year-old Queen Elizabeth II announced on Sunday that she is launching her own page on Facebook. The page will feature videos, photos and news updates about the long-serving British monarch. Facebook users will be able send messages to Buckingham Palace, and leave comments on the Queen's pages...

A senior Iranian cleric, Grand Ayatollah Bayat Zanjani, has discussed religious issues with his supporters on Facebook and Google Talk. A statement posted on the website of Ayatollah Bayat Zanjani, who has come under pressure from the Iranian authorities over his postelection stances, says the "unprecedented" online discussion took place on November 4 with a number of Internet users inside and outside of Iran.

Alarge part of a diplomat's role and mission is to reach out to and engage with the citizens of his or her host country. Traditionally, this has involved cultural events, receptions and business exchanges. But with the advent of Web 2.0, an increasing number of diplomats are turning to the Internet and social media...

Last Tuesday 215,646 Internet users in Iran evaded their regime to visit sites such as Facebook, Twitter and RadioFarda.com, the U.S.-funded Persian-language news service.

In the United States, the pressure on Facebook, relatively mild so far, comes mostly from journalists and advocacy groups like the Electronic Privacy Information Center. But the time is coming when Facebook will begin to face ever more intense international pressure from foreign governments unpleased, for one reason or another, with how the site operates.

He blames the media for creating a "witch's brew" by shaping "political, socio-economic, religious, perceptions" in the Middle East. But perhaps most surprisingly, Imam Feisal goes so far as proposing that the media not report on suicide attacks, an argument that naïvely underestimates the power of new digital media outlets, like YouTube, Facebook, or Twitter.

Better communication of EU affairs by public service broadcasters is key to bridging the gap between the European Union and its citizens, said the European Parliament yesterday (7 September), highlighting in particular the "huge potential" of social media to reach out to young people.