Can Twitter bring lasting peace to Baghdad?

Twitter, a popular social networking site, could help "scale-up civil society" in Baghdad, according to a US State Department official.

Richard B. Levine/Newscom

April 21, 2009

Call it humanitarian aid, 140 characters at a time. John Dorsey, the founder of the popular micro-blogging site Twitter, is currently touring Baghdad, along with a coterie of representatives from Google, AT&T, Automattic (creators of WordPress), and other top tech firms. The bill is being footed by the US State Department, and the mission, according to one official, is to "build upon anti-corruption efforts, promote critical thinking in the classroom, and scale-up civil society."

CNN has the full story, with a handful of choice blurbs:

... several members of the delegation are posting their thoughts and photos on blogs and on Twitter. Some, like those from Twitter's Dorsey, are quick observations: "The embassy has yoga classes. And belly dancing," read one of his posts, referring to the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad.

Well, hand-held diplomacy has to start somewhere.