“With the exception of Vice News, ISIS has permitted no foreign journalists to document life under their rule in Raqqa,” Crabapple wrote. “Instead, they rely on their own propaganda. To create these images, I drew from cell-phone photos a Syrian sent me of daily life in the city. Like the Internet, art evades censorship.”

On the same day the United States announced the arrest of a 19-year old attempting to leave the country to join ISIS, a top State Department official said the American efforts to combat ISIS' powerful online message are working.

Although 10 days have passed since the sudden involvement of Jordan in the air raids against the Islamic State (IS) in Syria, public opinion remains perplexed and absent from the goals and justifications of the international campaign. Most Jordanians are still wondering whether their kingdom is effectively fighting in the war or not.

Social media companies and governments in the United States, France and the United Kingdom have struggled to quell the noxious online presence of the Islamic State group. Twitter, YouTube and Facebook have undertaken a systematic effort to purge accounts affiliated with the militant organization.

The Obama administration's new drive to battle the ideology of ISIS using social media is falling short of expectations and its potential because the White House was late to the game, disregarded the work of the previous administration and hasn't properly funded the effort, some experts and government officials say.

As ISIS and its supporters have turned to social media to spread extremist messages across the Middle Eastern region and world, the U.S. State Department has become an active player in the social media war against ISIS.

Just as the United States has begun an aggressive air campaign against the militants, Richard A. Stengel, the under secretary of state for public diplomacy, believes the United States has no choice but to counter their propaganda with a forceful online response.

Along with its surprising military success, the Islamic State group has demonstrated a skill and sophistication with social media previously unseen in extremist groups.And just as the United States has begun an aggressive air campaign against the militants, Richard A. Stengel, the under secretary of state for public diplomacy, believes the United States has no choice but to counter their propaganda with a forceful online response.