"On Twitter, Cohen, who is 28, and Ross, who is 38, are among the most followed of anyone working for the U.S. government, coming in third and fourth after Barack Obama and John McCain. This didn’t happen by chance. Their Twitter posts have become an integral part of a new State Department effort to bring diplomacy into the digital age.... Traditional forms of diplomacy still dominate, but 21st-century statecraft is not mere corporate rebranding — swapping tweets for broadcasts. It represents a shift in form and in strategy — a way to amplify traditional diplomatic efforts, develop tech-based policy solutions and encourage cyberactivism. Diplomacy may now include such open-ended efforts as the short-message-service (S.M.S.) social-networking program the State Department set up in Pakistan last fall."

Digital Diplomacy. By Jesse Lichtenstein, New York Times (July 12, 2010).

The U.S. Department of State has a web page with an interactive map showing travel by the Secretary of State, Hillary Rodham Clinton.

• Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton > Travels With the Secretary > Interactive Travel Map

The site is an example of a hybrid site using Google maps, Yahoo APIs, and services from Thermopylae Sciences and Technology in addition to .gov hosting.

The U.S. Department of State has a channel on YouTube (youtube.com/statevideo and State Department spokesman Sean McCormack has announced a new service they are calling "Briefing 2.0" in which you can post a video to YouTube asking the State Department a question. McCormack says:

The idea is that you would be able to ask questions of me directly by posting video on YouTube.... This should be a lot of fun. I know it's going to be fun for me. I get to hear from the press corps every single day and give them answers. This is an opportunity for me to hear directly from you and for you to hear directly from me with answers to your questions, whatever happens to be on your mind. So give it a try.

The Washington Post covers the story and the first few questions here: What's the Opposite of 'Mainstream'?, By Al Kamen, Washington Post, October 31, 2008; A17.

Thanks and a tip of the hat to Kevin Taglang!