It has become one of the hallmarks of the news now. Whenever there is a dramatic event, social media instantly comes alive with comment and conjecture as facts vie for attention with fiction.

Man Haron Monis brought a nation to its knees. After taking 17 people hostage he was in charge, helping empty the heart of Sydney.

There is a lesson for us all in the continuing revelations from stolen Sony emails being splashed over worldwide media.

As the Sydney siege threatens to open up old prejudices, hashtag #illridewithyou has led a call for unity.

CIA director John Brennan is acknowledging that agency officers did "abhorrent" things to captive terror suspects, and he says he can't prove the harsh treatment made the prisoners cooperate.

Miley Cyrus and Taylor Swift are among the stars who have started getting into the Christmas spirit - and of course sharing that spirit on Instagram.

Justin Bieber is the most tweeted about pop star of 2014.

Millie Elder-Holmes believes her slain boyfriend Connor Morris watched over her as she defeated Shortland Street star Frankie Adams in Saturday's Fight for Life.

Our social media scout Cam Mansel gives you the run down of things you might have missed in the weird and wonderful world of celebrity social media.

An aide to a Republican congressman has resigned after her critical comments about President Barack Obama's daughters sparked a backlash.

It looked as if it was raining money at Auckland's Destiny Church on Sunday, in photos tweeted by church leader Bishop Brian Tamaki.

Obama's daughters accused of lacking class by a Republican after appearing in a Thanksgiving broadcast.

The PR supremo whose employment of attack bloggers was exposed in Dirty Politics says his unconventional media strategies are here to stay.

Our social media scout Cam Mansel gives you the run down of things you might have missed in the weird and wonderful world of celebrity social media.

One of the killers of Fusilier Lee Rigby posted extremist messages on social media websites for six months without the authorities being alerted.

Mobile phone users are increasingly turning to messaging apps and shunning traditional calling and texting.

Clothes may no longer make the man, but it seems they can still break him.

WhatsApp, the world's most popular instant messaging platform, has begun encrypting all its data by default.

Until Tuesday afternoon, when Twitter released its first complete index, digging up old tweets was a surprisingly difficult task.

Our social media scout Cam Mansel gives you the run down of things you might have missed in the weird and wonderful world of celebrity social media.

Matt Heath writes: Who knows why people post mean stuff? Maybe their life is crap or maybe they're psychotic - but before you start crying you need to check credentials.

Our social media scout Cam Mansel gives you the run down of things you might have missed in the weird and wonderful world of celebrity social media.

Kim Kardashian put her famous derriere on the cover of a US magazine and got exactly the online reaction she wanted. *WARNING: This article contains explicit images of Kim Kardashian's bare bottom*

Our social media scout Cam Mansel gives you the run down of things you might have missed in the weird and wonderful world of celebrity social media.

A drink-driver sentenced to community detention skited about spending a week away from home without being noticed after he "ripped off" his monitoring bracelet.

British actor Stephen Fry has taken a break from Twitter because it is not safe to tweet while working on a top secret project.

Our social media scout Cam Mansel gives you the run down of things you might have missed in the weird and wonderful world of celebrity social media.