If not for a lottery on the micro blog of the Italian embassy's culture office, Wang Yueyue, a fan of traditional Chinese operas, may never have thought of listening to an Italian one. "I haven't watched any foreign operas because I'm afraid my local ears can't get used to them. Besides, you know, anything foreign in China costs too much," said Wang, a Beijing resident in her 30s.

As with many new things, a lot of foreign ministries were initially skeptical of ediplomacy. What did 140 character messages and social media have to do with serious diplomacy? There have now been more than enough social media infused international crises to silence those critics.

My Brookings paper which launched today, Baked in and Wired: eDiplomacy @ State, tracks State’s remarkable emergence as the leading innovator in its field. It drills into three areas where its use of ediplomacy has been particularly striking: public diplomacy, internet freedom, and knowledge management.

“Back in the day, a corporation stung by a newspaper story might try to buy a full-page ad in the paper. But that route was controlled by the very organization they were battling. Targeting PR ad dollars toward social media is another sign it isn’t just stories that can spread virally. It is also the conversations around those stories, pro or con.”

“This is a key point for digital diplomacy – the importance of reaching a broader audience, not just the same old people who usually follow foreign affairs.” As such, top diplomats are increasingly holding live, virtual chats on social networks to engage with people whom they would otherwise never meet.

Hundreds of Chinese netizens posted comments marvelling that the Canadian envoy at the time – David Mulroney – was driving a relatively inexpensive car compared to the luxury vehicles favoured by their own officials. In just one click, Ottawa had managed to engage a wide audience in a debate about corruption and transparency, using one of China’s hugely popular social networks.

Is there a diplomatic dividend to reap from going viral? Or, put another way, will 15 minutes of parliamentary invective deliver more than 15 minutes of global fame for Julia Gillard?... There is a certain irony that a speech in Parliament House in Canberra has had more of a global impact than her address to the United Nations General Assembly in New York.

What does the plight of the brave and bright Malala Yousafzai say about the people of Pakistan, and the future of their relationship with the people of the United States and the West?