Twitter Diplomacy? A Content Analysis of Eight U.S. Embassies’ Twitter Feeds
Keywords:
Content analysis, Twitter, U.S. Department of State, Public diplomacy, Public relationsAbstract
In recent years, the Twitter feeds of U.S. Embassies have sparked controversies, angering American political leaders as well as local leaders and citizens. This study explores how U.S. Embassies use Twitter, to try to assess whether Twitter use might be seen as furthering the mission of the U.S. Department of State or as a “barometer” of local tensions. By examining the tweet output from four embassies on the State Department official “watch list” and four not on the list, this study reveals inconsistencies among embassies in Twitter use and between Twitter content and the State Department mission, and suggests the possibility of viewing such Twitter activity as public diplomacy.
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Warwick, D. P. (1975). A theory of public bureaucracy : politics, personality, and organization in the State Department. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press.
Wigand, F. D. L. (2010). Twitter in government: Building relationships one Tweet at time. Presented in Information Technology: New Generations (ITNG), 7th International Conference at Las Vegas, NV (pp. 563–567). 12–14 April 2010.
Youssef, N.A. (2013, April 3). U.S. Embassy in Cairo deletes Twitter post that angered Morsi supporters in Egypt. McClatchy. Retrieved from http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2013/04/03/187651/us-embassy-in-cairo-deletes-twitter.html#.UdB2mpU6JFI.
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Zhang, J. (2013). A strategic issue management (SIM) approach to social media use in public diplomacy. American Behavioral Scientist, 57(9), 1312-1331. doi: 10.1177/0002764213487734
Zhang, J., & Fahmy, S. (2015). The use of social media in public diplomacy. In International Public Relations and Public Diplomacy, ed. Guy Golan, Sung-Un Yang, and Dennis Kinsey, 315-31. New York, NY: Lang Publishing.
Bjola, C., & Jiang, L. (2015). Social media and public diplomacy: a comparative analysis of the digital diplomatic strategies of the EU, US and Japan in China. In Digital Diplomacy: Theory and Practice, ed. Corneliu Bkola, and Marcus Holmes, 71-88. New York: Routledge.
Calamur, K. (2013, April 3). U.S. Embassy tweets Jon Stewart's Egypt monologue; diplomatic incident ensues. National Public Radio. Retrieved from http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2013/04/03/176185089/u-s-embassy-tweets-jon-stewarts-egypt-monologue-diplomatic-incident-ensues.
Choo, S. E., & Park, H. W. (2011). Government organizations’ innovative use of the Internet: The case of the Twitter activity of South Korea’s ministry for food, agriculture, forestry and fisheries. Scientometrics , 90, 9-23. doi: 10.1007/s11192-011-0519-2
Christensen, C. (2013). @sweden: Curating a nation on Twitter. Popular Communication: The International Journal of Media and Culture, 11(1), 30-46.
Chumley, C. (2013, April 3). U.S. Embassy in Cairo yanks Twitter feed over Jon Stewart brouhaha. The Washington Times. Retrieved from http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2013/apr/3/us-embassy-cairo-yanks-twitter-feed-over-jon-stewa/.
Dewey, C. (2012, November 28). U.S. Embassy in Cairo goes rogue on Twitter. The Washington Post. Retrieved from http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/worldviews/wp/2012/11/28/u-s-embassy-in-cairo-goes-rogue-on-twitter/ .
“Digital Diplomacy: Virtual Relations”. (2012, September 22). Economist. Retrieved from http://www.economist.com/node/21563284.
Etter, M. & Plotkowiak, T. (2011). CSR-Communication Strategies for Twitter: Micro-Blogging as a Tool for Public Relations. Paper presented at The 61st Annual International Communication Association Conference. Boston, United States.
Fang, Z. (2002). E-government in digital era: Concept, practice, and development. International Journal of the Computer, the Internet and Management, 10, 1–22.
Fisher, M. (2013, April 3). U.S. Embassy in Cairo’s controversial Twitter account deleted after one too many public spats. The Washington Post. Retrieved from http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/worldviews/wp/2013/04/03/u-s-embassy-in-cairos-controversial-twitter-account-mysteriously-deleted/.
Fitzpatrick, K., Fullerton, J., & Kendrick, A. (2013). Public relations and public diplomacy: Conceptual and practical connections. Public Relations Journal, 7(4): 1-21.
Gilboa, E. (2008). Searching for a theory of public diplomacy. The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 55-77.
Golan, G. (2013). An integrated approach to public diplomacy. American Behavioral Scientist, 57(9), 1251-1255.
Golbeck, J., Grimes, J., & Rogers, A. (2009). Twitter use by the U.S. Congress. Journal of the Association for Information Science and Technology, 61(8), 1612-1621.
Goldfine, L (2009). A new U.S. Embassy—and a chance to look back and to the future. China Business Review. January - February 2009.
Grunig, J. E. (Ed.). (1992). Excellence in public relations and communication management. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc.
Grunig, J. E. (1993). Public relations and international affairs: Effects, ethics and responsibility. Journal of International Affairs, 47(1): 137-61.
Grunig, J. E. (1997). A situational theory of publics: Conceptual history, recent challenges, and new research. In Public relations research: An international perspective, ed. Danny Moss, Toby MacManus, and Dejan Vercic, 3-48. London: International Thomson Business.
Hamdy, N., & Gomaa, E. (2012). Framing the Egyptian uprising in Arabic language newspapers and social media. Journal of Communication, 62(2), 195–211. doi: 10.1111/j.1460-2466.2012.01637.x
Himelboim, I., Golan, G. J., Moon, B. B., & Suto, R. J. (2014). A social networks approach to public relations on Twitter: Social mediators and mediated public relations. Journal of Public Relations Research, 26(4), 359-379. doi:10.1080/1062726X.2014.908724
Howard, M. (2001). E-government across the globe: How will “e” change government?. Government Finance Review, Retrieved from https://www.gfoa.org/downloads/eGovGFRAug01.pdf (June 14, 2013).
Hwang, S. (2012). The strategic use of Twitter to manage personal public relations. Public Relations Review, 38(1), 159-161. doi:10.1016/j.pubrev.2011.12.004
Internet world stats: Usage and population statistics. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.internetworldstats.com/stats.htm (June 7, 2013).
Jansen, B., Zhang, M., Sobel, K., & Chowdury, A. (2009). Twitter power: Tweets as electronic word of mouth. Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology, 60(11), 2169–2188. doi: 10.1002/asi.21149
LaMarre, H. L., & Suzuki-Lambrecht, Y. (2013). Tweeting democracy? Examining Twitter as an online public relations strategy for congressional campaigns’. Public Relations Review, 39(4), 360-368. doi:10.1016/j.pubrev.2013.07.009
Nuland, V. U.S. Department of State, (2012). Daily press briefing: November 27, 2012. Retrieved from http://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/dpb/2012/11/201105.htm (Oct. 25, 2013).
Rogin, J. (2013, April 3). Embassy Cairo shuts down Twitter feed after Muslim brotherhood spat. Foreign Policy. Retrieved from http://thecable.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2013/04/03/embassy_cairo_shuts_down_twitter_feed_after_muslim_brotherhood_spat
Rubin, B. M. (1985). Secrets of state: the State Department and the struggle over U.S. foreign policy. New York: Oxford University Press.
Saffer, A. J., Sommerfeldt, E. J., & Taylor, M. (2013). The effects of organizational Twitter interactivity on organization–public relationships. Public Relations Review, 39(3), 213-215. doi:10.1016/j.pubrev.2013.02.005
Signitzer, B., & Coombs, T. (1992). Public relations and public diplomacy: Conceptual divergence. Public Relations Review, 18(3), 137-47.
Snow, N. (2015). Public Diplomacy and Public Relations: Will the Twain ever meet? In Golan, G., Yang, S-U., & Kinsey, D. (Eds.), International Public Relations and Public Diplomacy (73-90). New York, NY: Peter Lang Publishing.
TweetCongress. (2011). Tweet the Congress of the United States of America. Retrieved from http://www.tweetcongress.org (June 4, 2013).
United States Department of State. (2015). Global Sociel Media Presence. Retrieved from http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ode/socialmedia/ (August 10, 2015).
U. S. Department of State. (2012, November 16). Fiscal year 2012 agency financial report. Retrieved from http://www.state.gov/documents/organization/200506.pdf (June 4, 2014).
U. S. Department of State. (2009, May 28). 21st Century Statecraft. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x6PFPCTEr3c.
U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Consular Affairs. (2013). Current travel warnings. Retrieved from http://travel.state.gov/travel/cis_pa_tw/tw/tw_1764.html.
Waters, R., & Williams, J. (2011). Squawking, tweeting, cooing, and hooting: analyzing the communication patterns of government agencies on twitter. Journal of Public Affairs, 11(4), 353–363. doi: 10.1002/pa.385
Warwick, D. P. (1975). A theory of public bureaucracy : politics, personality, and organization in the State Department. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press.
Wigand, F. D. L. (2010). Twitter in government: Building relationships one Tweet at time. Presented in Information Technology: New Generations (ITNG), 7th International Conference at Las Vegas, NV (pp. 563–567). 12–14 April 2010.
Youssef, N.A. (2013, April 3). U.S. Embassy in Cairo deletes Twitter post that angered Morsi supporters in Egypt. McClatchy. Retrieved from http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2013/04/03/187651/us-embassy-in-cairo-deletes-twitter.html#.UdB2mpU6JFI.
Yun, S. (2006). Toward public relations theory-based study of public diplomacy: Testing the applicability of the Excellence Study. Journal of Public Relations Research, 18(4), 287-312. doi:10.1207/s1532754xjprr1804_1
Zhang, J. (2013). A strategic issue management (SIM) approach to social media use in public diplomacy. American Behavioral Scientist, 57(9), 1312-1331. doi: 10.1177/0002764213487734
Zhang, J., & Fahmy, S. (2015). The use of social media in public diplomacy. In International Public Relations and Public Diplomacy, ed. Guy Golan, Sung-Un Yang, and Dennis Kinsey, 315-31. New York, NY: Lang Publishing.
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