President Obama took to Facebook Thursday night to comment on a photo of an Iranian father and son posted by the popular photography blog Humans of New York. The comment had received more than 120,000 "likes" as of Friday afternoon. The photo itself had been liked by nearly half a million people.

It’s great publicity for the zoo, but it’s also great publicity for China, where these pandas come from, “on loan.” But how often do you read about how much the U.S. is paying for this Chinese public diplomacy bonanza?

Fiji's growing international image and posture has been disseminated in varying ways. One of the most recent means is through social media. This show of international stature can be viewed through public diplomacy. However, it is important to critically observe public diplomacy and how it can conceal realities in a country.

As the diplomatic apparatus of the United States, the State Department is directly involved in putting a friendly face on empire, concealing its underlying mechanics. Every year, more than $1 billion is budgeted for “public diplomacy,” a circumlocutory term for outward-facing propaganda. Public diplomacy explicitly aims to influence journalists and civil society, so that they serve as conduits for State Department messaging.