The State Department is trying to use modern technology to reach out to the Muslim world with blogs, chat boards, social networking sites and video in Arabic, Farsi and Urdu.

It makes sense to promote democracy using the Internet, and it will no doubt prove useful. Unfortunately, only a small percentage of the developing world is connected to the web, limiting the impact. S. Shyam Sundar, co-director of the Media Effects Research Laboratory at Penn State University, told next.gov.com that a good portion of the State Department's online outreach efforts are aimed at starting conversations.

He warned, however, that "people who have something to say but don't have access to a medium like this" tend to get ignored.

At the moment, Sundar said, the Internet is "not a representative microcosm of the world." Others are looking toward mobile technologies, which are far more common, as a way for the government to connect with people in developing nations.

And for the State Department, the lack of access is an obstacle it still must work at overcoming.

For more on the e-diplomacy:
- see this nextgov.com article