Jeff Mascott had a column yesterday in The Hill, a congressionally-focused Beltway newspaper, in which he talks about the State Department’s use of social media as a tool in diplomacy.

Mascott edits kstreetcafe.com, a blog about how technology and the Internet are changing the public affairs industry, and is managing director of the Adfero Group, a public relations firm. He highlights the Democracy Video Challenge – which we mentioned in a previous blog post – as a prime example of State’s use of social media:

The Democracy Video Challenge exemplifies a number of core American values. Its open-ended nature is the embodiment of freedom of speech.

Submissions were not censored, edited or weeded out. Provided they did not incite violence or contain profanity, videos were accepted as valid submissions. In addition, the viral nature of the contest made it easy for people to share videos with friends and engage in a real discussion about what democracy does and should mean. Hundreds of thousands of people have watched videos created by their peers.

The Democracy Video Challenge also involved the most fundamental of democratic actions: voting. After the initial submission timeframe, which lasted from September 2008 to January 2009, an independent jury narrowed the applicants to a field of finalists and then opened it up to the public for a monthlong voting period to select the ultimate winner of the contest (think “American Idol” for politics). Voting closed just a few months ago, resulting in the selection of six winners from different regions of the world.

Mascott also delves into the issue of the Smith-Mundt Act and how the increasing use of technology and social media is making the law – which prohibits the dissemination of information intended for foreigners to a domestic audience (intended to prevent the U.S. government from propagandizing to U.S. citizens) – somewhat dated.

Don’t be surprised if you didn’t read about the winners in the news. Most Americans have never heard of the Democracy Video Challenge — or of other cutting-edge initiatives by the State Department. That’s because of an obscure piece of legislation, the Smith-Mundt Act of 1948, which prohibits the U.S. government from distributing information intended for foreign audiences through domestic channels. For decades, the State Department has produced publications designed for consumption overseas, specifically publications that most Americans have never seen.

The Smith-Mundt Act may not be as relevant as it once was. That’s because the State Department’s approach to public diplomacy is changing. Rather than simply distributing one-directional magazines and e-journals, the agency is using modern technology and social media tools to engage in a back-and-forth dialogue with the public. This new online approach cannot be contained by geographical boundaries.