Question
3
In
their article, Arsenault and Cowan introduce what they identify to be the
current three layers of public diplomacy: monologue, dialogue and
collaboration. While some of these are better suited for utilization through
the social media, they can all take advantage of the Information Age in at
least some ways.
Monologue
possibly benefits the least from social media, but that’s not to say it doesn’t
benefit at all. In monologic public diplomacy, it’s all about dispersing a
direct message. This can be done through social media, just as it’s done in
other forms of the media, such as television. A speech that is broadcast on TV
is described by Cowan and Arsenault as monologue public diplomacy, and that
speech can also simply be uploaded to a Facebook page or tweeted out. The U.S.
State Department operates several official social networking pages that are
primarily for official correspondence on Facebook, Twitter, and the official
State blog, Dipnote. This is where they put press releases and videos of
official speeches, not where they engage in discussion.
 |
| Official State Facebook page features speeches, blog posts and press releases. |
That
leads us to the second layer, dialogue. Social media is perfect for this layer.
The dialogue aspect of public diplomacy is all about engaging in conversation
people of different countries. This layer is also very inclusive of government,
international organizations, NGOs and regular individuals. Social media has
made these discussions much easier than they ever could have been before.
Social media sites provide a public platform where these discussions can happen
and almost anyone can see them and become involved. The average person from any
country has a voice, as long as they have Internet access. Going back to the
U.S. State Dept. example, State also operates several Facebook pages that are
less about an official message and more about dialogue. These include eJournal USA
 |
| States Global Conversations page seeks to initiate dialogue by asking questions. |
Finally,
collaboration is similar to dialogue, but instead of just conversation and
dialogue, it includes working on a project or initiative with people from
another country. Social media can provide a place for that work to happen. That
could mean tweeting ideas or articles about a project with a specific hashtag
(kind of like our class assignment) or working in a Facebook group. One of the
best examples would to utilize Google hangouts on Google+. Venturing a little
outside of the realm of social media, it could also include things like using a
Google Doc to work on a group paper or using a Prezi to develop a group presentation.
 |
| Google+ hangout with Obama |
My question would be - where do you think the interesting collaborative diplomacy is going? Are people "hanging out?" Collaboration is also about doing things together. Can you think of some good examples. Oddly enough, I think about the 21st Century Statecraft initiatives, which technically speaking aren't "Public Diplomacy" - but sure seem like Collaborative Public Diplomacy to me. Eg. - Tech@state.
ReplyDeleteI think Tech@State is a great example. Another good example are reporting co-cps that happen in Office of Broadcast Services. Foreign reporters come up with ideas of a story they want to cover in the U.S. and they collaborate with an American producer to actually do the story and then eventually they come to the U.S. and make it happen. It's not the best social media example, but they definitely do use social media and the Internet some to plan out their stories and collaborate with their producers.
ReplyDelete