Most embassies in Washington do not have Facebook pages. To these recalcitrant foreign missions, I say: Get with the program. A fine Facebook page should be in every foreign government's diplomatic toolkit. The best embassy Facebook pages offer a confluence of current affairs and cultural potpourri, gently finessed for their expatriate, American, and/or young-skewing fans.

The recent uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt are sending shockwaves across the Middle East and demonstrating the power of social media to connect citizens striving for democratic reform. During a packed briefing at the U.S. Capitol this morning, new media experts and journalists from U.S. international broadcasters discussed this digital revolution and how the U.S. is taking advantage of its potential for change.

But when that fails, the Broadcasting Broad of Governors, which oversees the government-owned media organizations that send pro-American messages to foreign audiences, has begun using social media to go around online restrictions in repressive countries. Perhaps the most important? Facebook.

Let's stop being so confused about the Internet's role in revolutions. Technology works with human networks and amplifies human activities, sometimes for the better and sometimes for the worse. But is an open Internet a human right?

First, let’s be clear that this was the Egyptian Revolution, not the “Facebook Revolution” or the “Twitter Revolution.” Events of the past few weeks belong wholly to spirit of the Egyptian people, not technology. And although it was built on democratic aspirations, this was not a revolution that drew any inspiration from the United States.

Egypt's revolution is momentous. In 18 days, a broad-based, nonviolent social movement overcame an entrenched, autocratic government. However, we are still in the first act of a long play.

In a sense, two different revolutions are ongoing in Egypt. One is a struggle for power, which led to Mubarak's resignation. The other, broader revolution is a transfer of power that puts media in the hands of the people and allows individuals with nothing more than a cell phone to publish, broadcast and tweet to the world in real time.

The U.S. ambassador to the United Nations is hosting a global town hall at Twitter headquarters to talk foreign policy with users of the online messaging service. Ambassador Susan Rice will be taking questions from around the world Thursday morning via Twitter and from employees at the company's San Francisco office.