Three Korean perspectives on U.S. internet public diplomacy (original) (raw)
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Annyeonghaseyo to the Digital Sphere: The online public diplomacy of the Korean diaspora in the US
KOREA’S SOFT POWER AND PUBLIC DIPLOMACY, 2017
This is a chapter from the book Korea's Soft Power and Public Diplomacy, edited by Kadir Ayhan. Drawing from Manuel Castells’ definition of public diplomacy, we consider the centrality of non-state actors and their digital activity as fundamental characteristics of the new diplomatic paradigm. In this study, we analyze the means by which the Korean American diaspora creates its own public diplomacy through digital narratives, in which it expresses interests, values, and ideas to represent itself in the American Society.
Is It the Medium or the Message? Social Media, American Public Diplomacy & Iran
This article discusses communication concepts associated with the practice of public diplomacy 2.0, applying those concepts to analysis of American implementation of PD 2.0 directed toward Iran, a country with which the United States has lacked formal diplomatic relations for more than 30 years. Although interaction between the United States and the Iranian people may be limited, may not always take place in real time, and certainly cannot serve as a substitute for the interactions facilitated by a bricks-and-mortar embassy on the ground, the Virtual Embassy Tehran and its social media accouterments represent an interesting application of American public diplomacy priorities. The effort is consistent not only with the goals of 21st Century Statecraft, but also with the Administration’s stated preference for engagement while still pursuing vigorous economic sanctions toward the Iranian regime. The effort also has potent symbolic value given the United States’ promotion of global internet freedom as a foreign policy goal. The case of American engagement with the Iranian people as examined here is a unique study in the practice of public diplomacy 2.0 and it offers an opportunity to test some of the more idealistic arguments associated with application of social media to diplomatic efforts.
Social Media, Public Participation, and Digital Diplomacy
Proceedings of the 2nd International Indonesia Conference on Interdisciplinary Studies (IICIS 2021), 2021
Social media may have roles in improving government performance in digital diplomacy, roles which may be performed by government or non-government actors. The success of Indonesia's digital diplomacy may be achieved through public or community participation. This research put emphasis on public participation of the Indonesians in digital diplomacy through their uses of social media (Facebook, Instagram, Whatsapp, Youtube), Websites, and Applications made by the Government. This research uses documents as the main source of data. Research results show that Indonesians, both in Indonesia and abroad, especially through diaspora organizations, participate in promoting Indonesia, thus participating in digital diplomacy for the interests of Indonesia. The results also that high uses of internets by Indonesians (48% out of 270 millions) is an opportunity for further public participation in digital diplomacy, especially for public aspiration articulation, decision making, and communication involving stakeholders on public diplomacy. It is also an opportunity for publics and government to access data from other countries, to promote Indonesia to foreign countries. However, high uses of internet and social media by Indonesians can also be used by radicals to spread their ideas, for foreign actors to attack Indonesian domestic interests, to spread pornographic contents, and online frauds, both domestically or in international arenas.
Communication Research and Practice, 2016
In response to calls for developing an instrument to measure public diplomacy outcomes, this paper introduces the Relationship Assessment of Diplomatic Interaction Outcome (RADIO) scale. Developed based on the Organisation-Public Relationship Assessment (OPRA) scale in public relations, the RADIO scale measures relationship between a country and its foreign publics as public diplomacy outcome. It classifies relationships into two types: experiential (characterised by direct experiences with a country) and reputational (those without direct experiences). Two macrodimensions (i.e. interactional bilateralism and power mutuality) and two micro-dimensions (i.e. trust and empathy) are proposed for both relationship types. Relational satisfaction and relational continuance are proposed as micro-dimensions for experiential relationships. Relational attentiveness and relational curiosity are proposed as micro-dimensions for reputational relationships. Implications of the RADIO scale also are discussed.
Branding Korea as ‘My Friend’s Country’ The Case of VANK's Cyber Diplomats
Korea Observer, 2018
The role of non-state actors in public diplomacy remains an unsettled question in the literature. However, various transnational activities of non-state actors are often called public diplomacy, without discrimination. The lack of empirical studies on non-state public diplomacy is to blame for this conceptual confusion. Analytical and empirical studies of non-state public diplomacy are needed to consolidate this phenomenon, which is relatively new, while maintaining the conceptual clarity of public diplomacy. This study explores how Voluntary Agency Network of Korea (VANK), a Korean NGO, conducts public diplomacy and nation branding of Korea based on its members’ relationships with foreigners. To gain an in-depth understanding of VANK’s activities from the perspectives of public diplomacy and nation branding, this study follows an exploratory single case study method. The findings of this article suggest how VANK and similar non-state actors offer potential for public diplomacy and nation branding that can be utilized also by state agencies.
CAN PUBLIC DIPLOMACY SURVIVE THE INTERNET
The U.S. Advisory Commission on Public Diplomacy was established in 1948 and advise and oversee all government efforts to inform and influence foreign audiences. Part of this mandate is to help the State Department prepare for cutting-edge and transformative changes, which have the potential to upend how we think about engaging with foreign publics. This report aims to achieve precisely that. In order to think carefully about public diplomacy in this ever and rapidly changing communications space, the Commission convened a group of private sector, government, and academic experts at Stanford University’s Hoover Institution to discuss the latest research and trends in strategic communication in digital spaces. The results of that workshop, refined by a number of follow-on interviews and discussions with other organizations interested in similar questions, are included in this report. Can Public Diplomacy Survive the Internet? features essays by workshop participants that focus on emergent and potentially transformative technology and communication pa erns. The essays also highlight the potential challenges and opportunities these changes create for public diplomacy practitioners in particular and the U.S. government more broadly. We explore how public diplomacy practitioners can continue to productively engage with audiences around the world in the face of likely shifts in communication patterns, continue to effectively and effeciently help the United States to achieve its foreign policy priorities, and synchronize American interests with the interests of citizens and governments around the world.
Lost publics in public diplomacy: Antecedents for online relationship management
This study looked at relationship management in digital public diplomacy. Using qualitative methodology, focus groups and interviews were conducted with young females in the United Arab Emirates to explore antecedents to digital engagement with foreign governments. Results suggested a new antecedent for online relationship management in public diplomacy, and several implications for international public relations.
National Image of South Korea: Implications for Public Diplomacy
Exchange the Journal of Public Diplomacy, 2013
This study explores the national image of South Korea by employing Q methodology. A structured Q sample of 36 photos representing (1) culture, (2) history, (3) economy, (4) people, (5) place, and (6) political system of Korea was sorted by 30 participants (10 Koreans, 10 Korean-Americans, and 10 non-Koreans) from (-4) "most uncharacteristic of Korea" to (+4) "most characteristic of Korea." Two factors emerged from the subsequent correlation and factor analysis of the 30 Q sorts representing distinct views of Korea: (A) Advanced economy and technology and (B) historical view emphasizing the political system. Factor A participants associated the images of high-tech products such as a smartphone and a premium sports sedan manufactured by Korean companies with their view of Korea, while Factor B participants highlighted the images illustrating the divided situation of the Korean Peninsula and other historically important political moments.
Policy & Internet, 2023
An emerging line of research has drawn attention to the significance of national identity in shaping digital diplomatic practices. In this study, we look at the reciprocal construction of national identity on Twitter by corresponding foreign missions. Specifically, we examine one year of Twitter posts from the South Korean missions in Japan and the United States as well as the reciprocal missions of Japan and the United States in South Korea. Our study indicates that tweets from the Korea–US dyad reproduce the two nations as allies, even as the United States is constructed as the “big brother” to Korea's “little brother,” while the Korea–Japan dyad enacts and reinforces an adversarial relationship. Tweets from all four embassies reflect deep‐rooted national aspirations: Japan's hope to be accepted as morally superior to Korea, the US interest in maintaining its position as a global leader, and Korea's desire for international ascendance through economic and cultural export. We find that reciprocal identity construction is most evident in the text of the tweets but not so much in the use of Twitter's visual and interactional features. Going beyond reciprocity, our analysis sheds light on to how tweeting practices reproduce asymmetries of power in the international order.
An Analysis on the US New Media Public Diplomacy Toward China on WeChat Public Account
Sociology Study, 2016
Nowadays, with the development of the Internet, especially the mobile Internet, the appearance of WeChat has a deep influence on the communication among people. WeChat public accounts have changed a lot to the experience of getting information for people of all ages at the same time. As a new platform for public diplomacy, many foreign embassies and consulates in China have built their own public accounts of WeChat. These public accounts have become a new type of media to learn about these countries' culture, society, and so on. The paper takes the WeChat public account of the US embassy in China as an example, collecting information during a period of time and summarizing their characteristics and revelations. As a model of new media public diplomacy, WeChat public accounts have a silent transforming influence of public diplomacy. In addition, the new media public diplomacy plays an important role in promoting the development of China's public diplomacy strategy, which increasingly becomes a useful supplement to China's foreign policy. Therefore, in the mobile Internet era, the research of new media public diplomacy has an important implication.