Digital Diplomacy

This past week Secretary of State Hillary Clinton toured Europe and Russia.  If it wasn’t because we know she is in another continent, it would seem she was right next to us.  During the entire time Clinton was traveling, the U.S. Department of State reported on her speeches and meetings overseas through its various accounts in social media. 

 Following the footprints of President Obama and his ventures into broadcasting in several websites, the United States government has joined the social media bandwagon.  The increasing popularity of new media networks gives the State Department and diplomats unparalleled direct access to the public. It gives government an opportunity to connect with people around the world in new, more integrative ways, and opens doors to reaching audiences both nationally and abroad.   

The U.S. Department of State has an official blog, DipNote, Facebook pages, feeds on Flickr, YouTube and Twitter accounts.  “The government went from not using anything to using everything,” says Patrick Ventrell, Deputy Spokesperson at the United States Mission to the United Nations, of the government’s strategy for using new media.

 The Department of State has three primary information departments: Public Affairs, Public Diplomacy and International Information Programs.  The Bureau of Public Affairs’ goal is to inform Americans about the country’s foreign policy issues and report their concerns back to diplomats in Washington. This Bureau manages the Department’s website (www.state.gov), and develops web pages with relevant and current foreign policy information.  To do so, it uses new media according to guiding principles that include transparency and engagement.  “We want people to see the Department as they would not see it otherwise.  It’s about developing an online community.  Regardless of blogging, we want to make sure we come across as genuine.  We want people to trust us,” says Daniel Schaub, Director for Digital Communications at the State Department and Executive Editor of DipNote.

 The Bureau of International Information Programs strictly communicates with foreign audiences about U.S. foreign policy. It does so through the use of traditional as well as new media in Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Persian, Russian, and Spanish.  It also puts the U.S. government’s voice into discussions on major blogs and live chats to engage audiences in their own territory. 

 Unlike the Bureau of International Information Programs, the Bureau of Public Affairs communicates using strictly English, as its audience is people who live in the U.S.  But, when it comes to major events and speeches such as the President’s State of the Union address, the Bureau will translate them into the world’s primary languages, including Spanish and French.  “Our primary audience is in the U.S.  But because of the nature of the media and its access, our audience is global.  We are not banned by putting information overseas,” says Schaub.

 Different U.S. missions around the world use new media in much the same way as the Bureau for Public Affairs.  “Social media is a multilateral framework for our issues. We use our website to outline the issues of the day,” says Ventrell, “We want out audience to see what is being said by officials on those issues, and we want foreign audiences to see it as well.”

 Social media not only it helps communicate more directly and instantly with audiences, but it is also an aid for diplomacy practitioners to implement policy on the field. “When I worked on cultural exchanges in Iraq, a lot of the people we worked with and wanted to partake in exchange were on Facebook.  Thanks to that we were able to help them build a network with students that had done exchanges in the past, and helped them communicate.  So, social helps diplomats act on policy in some respects,” explained Ventrell. 

 By looking at DipNote’s format, at times, it may seem that the State Department intends to hold a one-on-one conversation with the reader, the blog looks to having a multidimensional exchange.  “We offer people the possibility to leave comments, so that it is not a one way conversation,” Schaub points out.  Even Secretary of State Clinton is an active participant. “The Secretary is directly involved.  She has written for the blog several times.  Sometimes, during trips, she’ll mention something to the press team and will get Twitted,” says Schaub.

 With the advent of new media and social networking, the State Department has adapted to a new era of communications.  Through them it continues to use these tools to better reach out to audiences at home and around the world, and is in the right place at the right time.

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