The Rise of Social Media: A
New Frontier of Diplomacy
As the robust advance of information and communication
technologies (ICT) continue to enable and facilitate people around the globe to
connect and to interact directly with one another, social media outlets have
stolen the attentions of many bureaucrats for their major role in voicing
peoples’ aspirations and shaping public policies in many areas. Along with the
exponential growth of social media around the world, many government officials,
including diplomats, have utilized this channel to conduct and expand their public
diplomacy.
Only recently, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono
officially joined Twitter, using the account @SBYudhoyono, adding to an already
long list of head of states/governments and prominent leaders actively using
Twitter to communicate with their citizens and the world. President Barack
Obama, the late Venezuelan President Hugo
Chávez, President Abdullah Gül of Turkey
and Queen Raina of Jordan are among the avid users of this micro-blogging
platform.
This emergence of new diplomatic operating environment
enables diplomats and relevant officials to communicate, connect, interact and
maintain contacts with their domestic as well as foreign constituencies.
Two-way dialogues are easier to build, creating direct and personal
communication channels to listen and respond to the societies’ needs.
Although many argue that the advance ICT in the form of
social media only add a new dimension in foreign policies’ business, it is
widely accepted that the wider use of social media outlets, such as Facebook
and Twitter, do create and bring significant impacts on the ground. As a wide
range of opinions, political views and interests, and even mobilization of activities
are widely and easily shared, peoples-driven transformation process are more
likely to take place. The Arab Spring is
indeed one of the illustrious examples of this phenomenon, lauded the role of
social media and even coined the term “Twitter Revolution”.
While security and political issues are still considered
sensitive and tend to be handled in more traditional ways, many foreign
ministries expand their public diplomacy efforts focusing on social, economy
and cultural exchanges through social media.Rigorous dissemination of information
of one country’s values and cultures has been aggressively conducted in these
platforms.
Nevertheless, as this new technological
revolution is bearing down on foreign ministries, it proves to be difficult for
many. The slow pace of adaption in digital diplomacy by many foreign ministries
suggests that there is a degree of uncertainty over this novel concept.
Perhaps, two of the biggest questions here are what digital diplomacy is and
what it can be used for. In addition, how to effectively formulate and
implement communication strategies using these new platforms continues to be
debated.
At this juncture,
one particular foreign ministry has been considered successful in embracing
these novel technologies. The U.S. State Department has been known as “the
world’s leading user” of e-diplomacy or some might say, internet
diplomacy. The U.S. State Department,
including its representatives and missions abroad, has been strategically using
websites and technology-based venues to help carry out its diplomatic affairs.
Along the same line, the European Union continues to
adapt its policies and approaches in dealing with the world’s affairs and
responding to the exponential growth of social media. Some ASEAN member
countries, such as Thailand and the Philippines, are also on the front lines
when it comes to digital diplomacy. Indonesia, to some extent, has also joined
the game and made use of these latest technologies.
As Indonesian foreign policies are now centering on the
enhanced economic and cultural diplomacy in advancing its national interests,
social media outlets certainly offer opportunities and advantages that are too
good to be missed.
Therefore, there is an urgent need to portray the use of
social media outlets in diplomacy and further, to demonstrate that, when their
use responds to the audience’s needs and strategically considers the overall
information landscape, they can be utilized as effective public diplomacy
tools. One way of doing it is by taking comparative analysis about the current
use of social media by the U.S. State Department and Indonesia’s Ministry of
Foreign Affairs, which, hopefully will provide more complete pictures of
valuable contribution, as well as challenges and possible risks, of the use of
social media in enhancing public diplomacy, including economic and cultural
diplomacy.
It is important to note that digital diplomacy is not a
replacement for face-to-face diplomacy, but rather a complement to it. Social
media serves as one of the catalysts which expedite the desired changes on the
ground. Certainly, social media alone cannot cause revolutions or social
movements, but it has proved to be an effective tool for strengthening and
amplifying the message we want to deliver. And in the case of economic and
cultural diplomacy, social media fits in well.
Taking all the aforementioned development into
consideration, it is therefore timely to take a closer look and conduct a
critical review of maximizing social media and digital diplomacy platforms and
integrate them into our diplomatic practices.
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ReplyDeletewell...not just that, governments are doing the same thing as well..
ReplyDelete