Twitter diplomacy or un-diplomacy

Diplomacy remains vital praxis in transnational encounters and connections. States continue to dispatch diplomats and ancillary staff for the promotion of state priorities. Qualified candidates attain extensive training and overtime supplement it with overseas experiences.

Immediate tasks include the analysis of intentions and activities by both allies and adversaries. Within this tendentious context, twitter-diplomacy represents the latest online extension to this classic diplomatic enterprise. States and nations use this relatively new social media tool to enhance, disseminate and consolidate policy initiatives[i].

Studies show that the diplomatic aspect, as well as the engagement dimension, constitute a means to achieving a larger purpose. Powerful states introduce and expose dominant transnational corporations and their technologies to a global audience and thereby consumers. This leads to diverse forms of online transnational encounters and connections- including diplomacy. Recently, what should supposedly be internal communication with colleagues, a Facebook executive suggested that the tech giant could determine whether political parties and candidates in the US and beyond win or lose elections[ii]. Consequently, with guided assistance by these same corporations many people around the world can now, for good or for worse, afford their small digital media-escapes