Abstract:

The aim of the study is to reveal the impact of new communication technologies on public diplomacy in the conceptual framework of "digital diplomacy" and through example social media activities. Method: For this purpose, the comments and interactions made between May 2018 and October 2018 from the Facebook accounts of the Embassy of the United Kingdom and Finland in Ankara, identified as an example event, have been examined with the help of the content analysis method. After the Finnish and UK accounts were evaluated separately in the framework of their content and social media strategies, a comparison was made between them in the proactive use of social media, the multi-media tools used and the interaction in the open context. Results: Proactive use of social media in the context of study and digital diplomacy (revealing sharing with advertising, taking advantage of social media phenomena, using interactive social media features, etc.) By increasing interaction with users, the conclusion was that the countries are able to spread their aspects and policies to a wider audience. In the example case, the strategy and sharing of the diplomatic social media accounts were also seen to be in line with the foreign policy objectives of those countries.

Abstract:

Objective: The aim of the study is to put forward the effects of new communication technologies to public diplomacy within the “digital diplomacy” conceptual framework via case studies concerning social media activities. Method: For this purpose, Facebook shares and interactions (e.g. comment, like, re-share) covering the period of May-October 2018 in Facebook accounts of the Finland Embassy in Ankara and United Kingdom Embassy in Ankara, chosen as case studies, have been examined via content analysis method. In addition to that, two Facebook accounts have been compared within the scope of proactive use of social media, openness to interaction and use of multimedia features. Results: It is concluded that proactive social media use (promoting shares, benefiting social media celebrities, using interactive social media features) within the context of digital diplomacy enables that the promoted policies and aspects of a country are widely disseminated by increasing user interaction. Also, it has been observed that shares and strategies of diplomatic social media accounts examined as case studies, are consistent with the foreign policy goals of that specific countries.

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