Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon stars in a video released by his ministry on Thursday, in which he presents a historical narrative meant to help wage the public diplomacy battle. Ayalon’s office said that the video was meant to put forward Israel’s “long-standing but neglected position” ahead of the Palestinians’ attempt to have a unilaterally declared state recognized at the UN in September.

Dictators are toppling across the Arab world. What role has the Internet played in their demise? Young people went online to keep up with their friends and youth culture. In doing so, they became politicized. In Egypt, people shared a yearning to oust Hosni Mubarak, but each person was afraid to step forward. Once they saw how many other Egyptians agreed with them, they grew bolder.

The Chinese government has criticized unnamed "overseas media organizations" and said their reports that former President Jiang Zemin had died "are pure rumor." But instead of telling the world about the health of Jiang, Beijing responded by stonewalling and censoring the Internet to the extent that even information on the hospital where the former leader is being treated was blacked out.

Alec Ross is U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's senior adviser for innovation -- a job that has him developing new and innovative ways to use technology to promote American diplomatic efforts. Ross told an RFE/RL correspondent that U.S. efforts to safeguard Internet freedom are not aimed at promoting regime change in authoritarian countries like Iran.

Mumbai is a social media-savvy city. It is also a magnet for terrorists who engage in acts of spectacular violence.When the bombings occurred during evening rush hour, shutting down transit networks throughout the famously congested city, residents also kicked in to use the power of cloud computing to help.

APDS Blogger: Anna Dawson

By general consensus, if not an absolutely proven fact, Moscow's iconic St. Basil's Cathedral (take a virtual tour), Red Square's famous architectural jewel with its nine swirling, candy cane like multicolored domes, turned 450 today. And Google has marked the occasion with one of those increasingly noticed and prized little honors known as a doodle.

Thanks to the rise of social media, news is no longer gathered exclusively by reporters and turned into a story but emerges from an ecosystem in which journalists, sources, readers and viewers exchange information. Journalists are becoming more inclined to see blogs, Facebook, Twitter and other forms of social media as a valuable adjunct to traditional media.