Organized by AZERTAC, the round table focused on the formation of alternative models of journalism in the information society, the role of modern journalism in ensuring intercultural, inter-faith and inter-civilizational dialogue, and the significance of virtual journalism and the role of social networks in the context of the challenges of modern society.

The United Nations Global Pulse initiative on Friday announced a partnership with Twitter that will provide the United Nations with access to the platform's data tools to support efforts to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) adopted by world leaders in September last year. [...] UN Global Pulse is an innovation initiative of UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon that harnesses data science and analytics for sustainable development and humanitarian action.

The Australian government’s Public Diplomacy Strategy points to the importance of “diaspora diplomacy”. It promises to take steps to “engage diaspora communities drawing on their linguistic skills, social networks and cultural community connections”, by making active use of “online and social media as public diplomacy tools”.

We can get hung up on the number of social media accounts a foreign ministry has, how many likes a tweet received, or how many followers we have. These numbers are great: they are easily measured [...] But they don’t go to the heart of Sam’s question: What difference has it made? In the end, as public servants, we need to demonstrate to taxpayers why it is worth investing in digital.

For the people of the Balkans the social media coincides with the period of democratic transition, with parliamentarian democracy, political pluralism, freedom and human rights, free market economy and the opening up of Euro-Atlantic integration. In this premature phase the social media entered with a great speed in the reality of the Balkans. 

The use of social networks to reach the public needs to be prioritised by the Vietnamese government and related agencies, especially during a period where the country is increasingly integrating into the global community.

Social media does more than share information about Syrian refugees; it offers ways you can help them. Here are five ways that highlight how social media supported Syrian refugees. [...] Since the crisis began, the U.S. has contributed more than $5.1 billion in humanitarian assistance to people affected by the conflict in Syria.