Facebook is Zimbabwe’s top website. According to Google, Facebook was the most popular web search term among Zimbabweans in 2011, replacing “Zimbabwe,” which led the list in 2010 and 2009. The Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation’s (ZBC) Power FM, despite its antiquated broadcasting studios, fills its popular music programming with trendy young DJs enthusiastically pushing listeners to follow them on the social networking site while quoting recent FB comments.

Half The Sky, the best-selling book written by Pulitzer Prize winning couple Nick Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn, is turning into a revolutionary gaming concept, targeting women in the developing world. Three mobile games, to be released in June for feature phones, teach women important entrepreneurial, health and business skills by playing casual games.

The paper provides a round-up of some of the major turns of events between 2005 and 2011 in the realms of Internet governance, the development of online public diplomacy at the State Department, the evolution of the Internet-fueled Arab Spring, and the establishment of the shadowy U.S. Cyber Command in Fort Meade, Maryland, among other things

Suzanne Philion, a 34-year-old who works under Clinton as Senior Advisor for Innovation in the Bureau of Education & Cultural Affairs at the U.S. State Department, embodies that new era. Foreign Service in the 21st century is far cooler than many people realize, she says, and thanks to ever-changing job assignments, not to mention an ever-changing global political landscape.

All the panelists repeated the mantra at least once or twice each time they spoke: “social media is a TOOL.” Nevertheless, the very first question from the audience was a not so much a question but a statement about the failings of social medial as a substitute for personal contact in diplomacy.

On Thursday, May 17, 2012 I attended the discussion on “Digital Diplomacy: A New Era of Advancing Policy” at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in Washington and on Twitter at #DigiDiplomacy. Carnegie had already posted video and audio of the event by early afternoon.

At first glance, there seems to be little in common between the digital and diplomatic worlds. Digital industries dot Silicon Valley. Diplomats inhabit "Foggy Bottom," the swampland that's home to the U.S. State Department. Tech titans wear hoodies. Ambassadors are part of the "striped-pants" set. Digital innovators embrace virtual reality. Diplomats? Realpolitik.

And earlier this year, Ray urged dialogue to address the differences between Harare and Washington...Ray struck a unique connection with Zimbabweans by openly engaging them on Twitter [@charlieray45] and Facebook on a range of subjects.