Peace talks beginning today in Washington between Israelis and Palestinians will prompt the use of the new accounts to communicate events and news from the talks. Although Israel’s Prime Minister’s Office has had an official website for some time Netanyahu apparently realizes the benefits of using social networking sites to get his message across more widely.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday officially joined the social networking era with the launching of a new YouTube channel, as well as Facebook, Twitter and flickr accounts.

Hear the words “Foreign and Commonwealth Office” and you might think of fusty old English ambassadors sat behind oaken desks reading leather-bound books. It turns out they’re more likely to be tweeting a link to their latest Flickr photo set these days.

Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs Judith A. McHale will travel to Argentina, Uruguay, and Chile... During her visit to Argentina, Under Secretary McHale will meet in Buenos Aires with government officials, alumni of U.S. Government youth and professional exchange programs, and Argentine social media entrepreneurs.

For the last two weeks, North Korean propaganda has flooded the Internet–courtesy of the Internet, interestingly enough, and not North Korea. A North Korea government official tells Forbes that the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea is not using Twitter, Facebook and YouTube...

Over the past few years technology has played an increasingly important role in protest movements around the world, from Myanmar (Burma) to Tibet to Iran and now to Kashmir, the largely Muslim state at the heart of the dispute between India and Pakistan.

Having never used Facebook or sent a tweet, and with no desire to do so, I am what you might call a social media sceptic...It troubles me to contemplate the effect it's having on government and public policymaking - when politicians feel the need to respond to the gossip and information generated with such rapidity by Twitter.