We encourage the use of social media. We encourage athletes to engage and to connect," Hout said. "There are some rules to follow, there's no question about it. But we don't police the fans, we don't police the athletes. We don't do that. What we do is we engage.

The social media revolution is taking place not just in Tahrir Square and Arab streets, but also in foreign ministries around the world as policymakers try to grasp the demands of real-time diplomacy.

Far from being rendered irrelevant by technological progress, where governments can communicate with one another directly on a need-to basis, diplomacy has become an increasingly critical instrument in an age of interdependence and globalization.

Denmark has launched a new journalistic shortcut to Denmark: Denmark – Stay Tuned. As the first country in the world Denmark has developed a nation branding smart phone application targeted at international media and journalists.

The move was part of the State Department's new effort to transform how foreign policy is conducted. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton made 21st Century Statecraft — using networks and technologies as part of the United States’ foreign policy agenda —a priority. Since then the Department has used social media to further its foreign policy agenda.

On Monday, I reported that the U.S. State Department was signing a $16.5 million agreement with Amazon to provide Kindles, content and service for overseas English language programs.