Social Media & Public Diplomacy, facebook or Chatham House Rule?

In my Last Blog post "Papandreou talks about the role of Social Media in Government" I promised to write on how New and Social Media impact public diplomacy. I have been rather busy lately (haven't Blogged as much as I would like), however, in this post I want to draw your attention to a recent Facebook DC Live Event: Social Media and the World Stage, which was hosted by Facebook Washington DC.

In this Video Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's Senior Innovation Adviser Alec Ross and Deputy Assistant Secretary Daniel Baer talk about how people around the world have been empowered by social media.

Watch live streaming video from facebookdclive at livestream.com

I remembered Eric Schwartzman saying that there are no secrets any more, only information, that is not yet known.

So, in the age of the Internet, do you believe that the "Chatham House Rule" can be applied in New and Social Public Diplomacy?

Also, let me draw you attention to Dr Anne Marie Slaughter, Director of Policy Planning, US Department of State. She discusses the Quadrennial Diplomacy and Development Review at the Chatham House and talks about the role of Social Media in Public Diplomacy.

In "The First Quadrennial Diplomacy and Development Review (QDDR): Leading Through Civilian Power" there is a reference on how New and Social Media can play a role in Public diplomacy stating:

Adapting to the Diplomatic Landscape of the 21st Century

Provide diplomats with communication tools for 21st century engagement
For our personnel to engage with publics, citizens, groups, or corporations they
must have modern tools of communication and connectivity. Today, engagement
with foreign publics is increasingly virtual—whether on email or Twitter, Facebook
or Flickr. By the same token, when our diplomats work beyond embassy walls and
outside capital cities they must remain connected with the embassy and have access
to real-time information. Modern mobile communication technologies will make
our people more effective. Through the QDDR, we have set a goal of ensuring
that all State Department employees serving in locations where personal digital
assistants can be used are provided with this technology by FY2012.

John Kerry and Digital Diplomacy

John Kerry delivered his first remarks as the new U.S. Secretary of State. In his first speech at the State Department, he noted : "...We get to talk about empowering people through our ideals, and through those ideals hopefully they can change their lives..." This is really important to underline; given that public diplomacy now has a much more crucial role to play. In utilising new and social media, people now have the opportunity to engage through digital diplomacy. As Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs Tara Sonenshine has said : "...we have to introduce more and more virtual exchanges and the use of social media particularly to reach young people where they are..." Secretary Kerry Tours the Ops Center Also, I came across a tweet from the State Department which informed that #SecKerry will be tweeting from the +U.S. Department of State twitter account . #SecKerry will start tweeting fr...

Social Media for Communication & Conflict Resolution

I came across an OSCE update on facebook asking: "Can social media help us prepare for peace?" In the new Report " Preparing for peace Communications in conflict resolution " the OSCE explains the role of Social Media in conflict resolution, detailing challenges and opportunities. OSCE/Curtis Budden Definitely recommending reading this OSCE publication. It is great that an Organization such as the OSCE is keeping active in Social Media, and at the same time "Mapping the blogosphere, reporting on negotiations, using social media to overcome divides" . Credit to the OSCE PPIS, Ireland’s 2012 OSCE Chairmanship, the US Mission to the OSCE and the Permanent Mission of Lithuania to the OSCE. Having worked for the OSCE in 2009 , I launched the official OSCE presence on facebook and twitter , along with Issuu . It was an excellent start, and I am happy to see that the team in PPIS are keeping up with the OSCE presence in Social Media and are launc...

#debate politics and new media communications

I must say that I enjoyed watching the first debate between the nominees for President of the United States. It was quite clear from the start that Romney was in charge, and President Obama seemed settled in reciting talking points. Some of my tweets included: To start, disappointed with @ barackobama - @ mittromney is doing a good job. — Vas Gkinopoulos (@VasGk) October 4, 2012 hmm @ mittromney is definitely in control of the #debate — Vas Gkinopoulos (@VasGk) October 4, 2012 I was quite surprised to read some articles on social media and politics, that suggested TV debates were obsolete, or that it was an "old media" approach to political campaigning. Such smug approaches are missing the point. The statistics show 10.3 million Tweets in 90 minutes. An amazing number that not only is a first in presidential debates, it makes the #debates more dynamic than ever! So I look forward to the next 3 debates for 2012. Internet engagement makes the #debates ever more impor...

Anonymous19 March 2012 at 19:44
If someone where to look up the definition of public diplomacy Melissen(2005) says that it targets the general public in foreign societies and more specific non-official groups, organsations and individuals. This therefore gives us an idea of the aim of public diplomacy, which then one things about the strategy and tactic of conveying this message would be. The internet is a very efficient way to do so in developed countries. The idea would be to engage further in dialogue with the people making public diplomacy interesting in identifying how the government manages to be informative and transparent with foreign publics. The talk by Dr Anne Marie Slaughter is very interesting. Was happy to listen to it.

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