Russia and the US use social media to make feelings on Ukraine clear
There was a time when working out what countries really thought required parsing texts and reading between the lines to get to the point, hidden behind a myriad of diplomatic niceties.
No longer – at least when it comes to Ukraine. With Russia-US relations in a thorny patch over events in the country, and a keen use of social media by both sides, such detective work is no longer required. Now, the official communications from each side read more like two teenagers trying to bait each other in the school playground.
The latest incident came when the Twitter feed of the US embassy in Moscow tweeted a news story on Tuesday evening claiming that pro-Russian protesters in the eastern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv had broken into the local opera house, mistakenly believing it to be the town hall.
"Real Kharkiv residents know the difference," tweeted the US embassy in Russian, essentially repeating the accusation voiced on Tuesday by the US secretary of state, John Kerry, that the protesters in east Ukraine are sent from Russia and organised by Russian security services. The embassy added the hashtag #isolatedRussia, but misspelled the name of the country in Russian.
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/apr/09/russia-us-social-media-feelings-ukraine-clear