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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...

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...

The 2012 campaigns for President have been very interesting in terms of Internent communications and voter outreach. In this article I have collected all of my comments during the past months and years leading up to election day. These are my unbiased honest opinions as an observer, not as a voter.  I have Blogged on numerous issues, mostly focusing on Internet Political Communications, Political Marketing and Political Issues that I felt passionate about. You can browse though my articles here:   The problem with political emails asking for money: TV Ads  I do not oppose online fundraising, I understand that both campaigns are tapping into their hardcore supporters; The problem is that for the most part both campaigns are asking contributions in order to outspend the opponent on TV air time! Barack Obama Vlogs on YouTube   During the past few days I enjoyed the videos coming from the Obama campaign on YouTube. #debate politi...

Having read through a lot of information on how the Obama and Romney campaigns are utilising the Internet and Social Media, I wanted to focus on their political photography campaigns. After looking at their respective flickr accounts ( Barack Obama - Mitt Romney ), I was really amazed with the Romney campaign... in not using flickr properly. Dinner with Barack and Michelle—August 20th, 2012, Dinner at Mintwood Place in Washington DC, Photograph by Scout Tufankjian for Obama for America It is really weird that the Romney campaign does not use flickr as they should in order to attract more views, spread the campaign photos across the web, and drive traffic back to MittRomney.com The Romney campaign does not title their photos, nor do they provide a description to each photo. So each photo is " Untitled" and the campaign does not even give credit to the respective photographers. Moreover, none of the photos are even taged with keywords, and also the Romney campaign...

I found this update of " Mitt's VP App " on the iPhone. I must say that it made me laugh! A few days before the VP announcement,  Mitt Romney gives his  VP nominee "Performance Improvements".  The Mitt's VP App states: There's no telling when Mitt will choose his VP. But when he does, be the first to find out with Mitt's VP app. Share with friends and earn exclusive campaign gear. Reading  Picking Through the Romney VP Chatter , I wondered whether there might be a clue in this recent App Update... In any case, the update on the App only contains bug fixes and enhancements or  "Performance Improvements" . If you read more into this, you're probably hooked on election news.

Credit: OSCE/Mikhail Evstafiev I strongly believe that Foreign Affairs Organizations have the opportunity to become pioneers in developing a comprehensive Digital Diplomacy and Social Media Strategy. The Internet as a whole and the different Social Media applications provide an opportunity to connect with various stakeholders, online communities, interest groups and individuals. The advantages of developing a Digital Diplomacy Strategy: To communicate the message directly to the public across the world. Without having to rely on International Media, Journalists or the Foreign Press. To harness public knowledge, share it with the world, so as to pursue national interests abroad. To maintain contact with audiences online and to utilize Social Media to listen and target important groups of individuals with key messages. To influence major online news leaders and International news agencies. To listen and gather information in order to anticipate emerging political mo...

Message by Dr. Stefanie Babst (NATO Deputy Assistant Secretary General for Public Diplomacy). A new initiative from the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, part of a public, or better framed, digital diplomacy. As stated, the WE-NATO platform is:  "... A n interactive social media platform which will enable NATO officials to engage directly with the global public and netizens in an open and transparent dialogue on issues related to NATO’s current agenda." Although I do applaud this new communication and outreach campaign, I must say that this could have been done from the current website of the organization, without having to create a new online presence or introduce the public to a new name (WE-NATO).  At the same time, just to add a bit of constructive criticism, I must point out that throughout the website comments are encouraged,   WE want to listen to what YOU have to say!  however at the bottom of each page its states:  Comments are clos...

Credit: OSCE/Igor Schimbator In a recent article on NPR  by Michele Kelemen, one can read how Social Media have affected Public Diplomacy. The Arab spring has been used as a bedrock for people arguing about the role of the Internet in regime change and public diplomacy. It is not just Social Media, but the Internet as a whole. Some people consider Social Media to be websites such as Facebook, twitter, YouTube, flickr, Blogs and more. That is not the case. These tools are just Internet applications. The Internet as a whole is a Social Medium! Today if somebody is lying about you in the media ... we now have the tools to get the real facts out there. - Alec Ross , State Department social media adviser Alec Ross is right. However with the correct use of Social Media, one should not only get the word out, or set the record strait; but actually listen to citizens and social groups, engage with the public and create a two-way communications stream between the diplomat...

David Plouffe, Senior Advisor to the President, in a recent email said: We're about to change the way Americans engage with President Obama and his Administration by launching a new way for you to join with fellow Americans to petition the federal government on a range of issues. We the People  is a new e-goverment solution from the Whitehouse in order to engage with people online. I hope this is not just another 2012 campaign tool...   Although the Whitehouse is not the first administration to launch this sort of opengov initiative, it is always good to give people new ways to interact with Government.  Another initiative like "We the People", that I clearly remember, is from number 10 in the UK. I remember this e-Petition being in place even from the previous labour administration of Tony Blair.  The UK version also states that: You can create an e-petition about anything that the government is responsible for and if it gets at least 100,000 si...

I always try to find new ways to talk and engage with people on twitter. Although I maintain what I consider to be a very modest account ; I know I need to put more time and effort in my personal tweeting. At the moment, I mostly tweet through the corporate accounts I manage. In a Blog post back in 2009.. " Twitter as a public SMS pool " I wrote that: "I think twitter as being, not just a mini-blogging platform, but an open SMS pool" Through twitter, you have the opportunity to create context between relationships and interact with people.  An excellent recent example comes from the account of Kevin Spacey . One of Kevin's fans, Danielle Luttrell , tweeted: "I had a dream that @KevinSpacey called me to say happy birthday. I cried. #biggestfan" to which Kevin Spacey replied " @DanielleLutt how about a tweet? Happy bday! " I find this amazing! A Hollywood star like Kevin Spacey with over 2million followers on twitter repl...

A Great initiative from the World Trade Organization! Maybe not so creative, since the  World Economic Forum  has been running Video Contests for the last Davos meetings, but still a great move from an organization that is one of the most important ones, globally. The video entry must be related to the WTO Public Forum's overall theme " Seeking Answers to Global trade Challenges ", and/or to any of the main topics that will be addressed at this year's forum. I might be entering the contest myself; it would be a great opportunity to go back to Geneva! I remember attending the WTO Public Forum in the past, and I must say that is definitely one of the most interesting fora. Also, given that WTO has started to have an active presence in Social Media, it would be rather interesting to see how people and the WTO will start interacting in this public forum. Maybe the WTO has a lot to learn from Davos in terms of Social Media engagement... however I know that is ha...

It's good to see that the GOP is engaging with the Obama twitter townhall #AskObama . Something that they didn't do during the Obama facebook townhall. In my post " President's facebook townhall & creative online campaign tactics " I wrote: I expect to see more smart and creative online campaign tactics; hopefully the 2012 campaigns will use more creative thinking in the coming months. Reince Priebus send out a tweet , the GOP ReTweeted and posted an update to the GOP facebook page . One short comment: it doesn't matter if it's facebook, twitter or any other Social Network. Internet communications technologies are used by people at the same time. So, why not let facebook people take part in a twitter townhall? The Obama facebook page does not ask supporters for twitter questions; the GOP asked facebook a twitter question!

Email newsletters can be considered to be the first direct to citizen tool of online political communications, before social media or other engaging technologies.  The Obama 2012 campaign is using a style of email communication that started in the 2008 campaign. People in our days are so overwhelmed by email, because everyone is getting so many newsletters that clutter their inbox with advertisements, offers, promotional messages and, in this case, emails from the 2012 campaigns. So, how can you make your political campaign email stand out? What the Obama campaign understands is that you don't need fancy graphics, banner ads, or digital signatures. The above email was "sent out" by the President with "(no subject)" in the title of the email. It has no banners, no photos, no videos embedded. Just like an email you would receive from a friend. Simple, Short, Single-Issued. (SSS) (Hey! I created an acronym...) You would except that each and every email that c...

Having watched Anthony Weiner admitting sending out an explicit, private, photo to one of his twitter followers I was really amazed that he didn't conclude with resigning from his seat. But what can we learn from the social media strategy of Anthony Weiner? Well, first of all don't send out private, or explicit, photos to your twitter followers/ facebook supporters a.k.a. your constituents/voters... But kidding aside, if Anthony Weiner didn't send out photos, or had intimate cyber relations with women online, his social media strategy would be excellent! A politician that uses Social Media on his own, without having a staffer doing all the work, and actually connecting with followers and supporters actively, is a great example of Political Social Media communications. Social Media engagement should be done by the politician, without any other people interfering. In Anthony Weiner's case, it just got too personal, and then it really went wrong. During the past day...

Having watched the President's speech on American Diplomacy in the Middle East & North Africa I have to say that I agree with the majority of the arguments raised. Once again, President Obama has mentioned the important role that the Internet and Social Media have played in shaping change in the Middle East and North Africa: Cell phones and social networks allow young people to connect and organize like never before. And so a new generation has emerged. And their voices tell us that change cannot be denied. Satellite television and the Internet provide a window into the wider world We will support open access to the Internet, and the right of journalists to be heard -– whether it’s a big news organization or a lone blogger. As Secretary of State Hillary Clinton also mentioned in her Remarks on the Release of President Obama Administration's International Strategy for Cyberspace: we seek to maximize the internet’s tremendous capacity to acceler...

After some days since my last Blog post, I wanted to write something today since there is yet another media strike in Greece. I remembered writing " A country with no Mass Media Communications (for 4 days) " just over a month ago. Well today is happening again but this time just for one day. Again most people that want to get informed are turning to twitter Blogs and News Portals that don't participate in the strike. The News are not on strike, just some journalists that report or comment on them. People that want to get informed are keeping informed. Mass media communications have given way to social interactions (New Media).

I really want to commend Benjamin Netanyahu on his initiative to engage with people online. It is truly remarkable that a head of state is coming out openly and accepting questions from a global audience! The office of the Israeli PM states that: This will be a unique project since Prime Minister Netanyahu will be the first head of government to be in continuous contact will (with) websurfers, and will not suffice with isolated interviews only. ( small misprint there ) I have previously blogged on Israeli politics and social media, and the overall theme is that is clear, straightforward and open. Just like social media needs to be; especially when dealing with global political communications, or international political leaders being active in New Media. It's about being clear, honest and fully transparent. I am planning to address a question Benjamin Netanyahu soon, and hopefully he will respond. On a last note, I want to suggest a bit of housekeeping. ...

Reince Priebus, chairman of the Republican National Committee, came out with a video on April 15th in asking people to send YouTube videos and tell the GOP why they "Can't Afford 4 More Years". The winning submission will receive a $100 gift certificate to the GOPStore.com and could be showcased in the GOP.com website. My first comment is that this contest seems outdated. Yet another example of a safe political communications strategy in trying to copy-paste tried ideas. This has already been done before, it's not innovative or cool anymore, and by the looks of it, with 3,355 views of the Reince Priebus video in 6 days, the Video contest is not going to be a success. It all seems really amateur in setting up a YouTube contest. But worry not, I am sure the GOP online communications team is only just beginning, that's right, Reince Priebus also opened a facebook page ; I bet this comes really handy in getting the video contest " viral ". I don...

In the age of 24 hour Blogging and Social Media, debunking a smear can be proven to be a near impossible task. You can address or "put the record strait", however you cannot make the smear disappear. When you make it an issue, it becomes an issue. Back in June of 2008, Barack Obama, launched http://www.fightthesmears.com/ a website to report, explain and debunk smears concerning Obama. At the time I wrote : It is a move that has got mainstream media publicity and a great tool to defend against Internet rumors becoming campaign issues. Lately, I came across http://www.icorrect.com/ which is something like http://www.fightthesmears.com/ for celebrities and people in the public domain. However,  Smears exist not because the truth is not available! You can watch a very interesting interview of the founder of http://www.icorrect.com/ on the Colbert Report here: This time around, and with the 2012 campaign coming up, it is still very difficult to once and ...

From the 7th to the 10th of April the Greek mainstream Media is on strike. This means that almost all journalists, reporters, technical staff and other people involved in the production and presentation of the news are not at their desks. Greek Journalists on Strike It's the first time, since I remember, that the Media strike lasts for longer than a day. When I first heard of the strike, I remembered writing this post back in June of 2010, explaining why the Greek Media is at a crucial point. " Greek media crisis ". Nothing much has changed since that post. The situation in the Greek Media is going from dire to ridiculous. Most of the traditional Greek Media do not want to know what is happening online.  An explosion of News Blogs, and News Portals, that are independently owned, are not taking part in the strike. Not to mention that some people get their news from twitter and facebook. Many Greek News Blogs keep posting updates, and most of the people I talked to ar...