Sunday
Jan042009
That US State Department Twitter-Diplomacy in Action
Sunday, January 4, 2009 at 16:36
Last month Colleen Graffy, the State Department's Deputy Assistant Secretary for Public Diplomacy, made a very big deal about how US diplomats are using new cyber-media such as Twitter to connect with people around the world:
So, as the Israel invasion of Gaza and the subsequent humanitarian crisis escalates, let's check out Graffy's latest "reach out and connect" tweets on Twitter:
With postings of such relevance to current events, I wonder how anyone could ever again be sceptical about the US approach to the Middle East.
One clear lesson that emerged from the Cold War was that winning hearts and minds required communicating in a way that "connected" with people on their terms, whether through film or jazz or jeans. To keep our public diplomacy relevant today, we have to reach out and connect with people on their terms, whether we use blogs or texts -- or tweets.
So, as the Israel invasion of Gaza and the subsequent humanitarian crisis escalates, let's check out Graffy's latest "reach out and connect" tweets on Twitter:
Apple Store 1 to 1 lessons v cool. thx all 4 encouraging me to get a Mac. Love it. Who is yr best blog model in case i learn how to do that?
With postings of such relevance to current events, I wonder how anyone could ever again be sceptical about the US approach to the Middle East.
Reader Comments (18)
Colleen,
Thank you for the reply.
I appreciate what you are trying to achieve --- both personally and professionally --- via Twitter. Indeed, I agree that it is a hopeful sign that public diplomats recognise the value of communication through that medium. Your examples of the tweets from Armenia, Poland, and Cyprus, both in your reply and in the Washington Post article, illustrate what might be done with Twitter on issues such as media freedom and the environment.
At the same time, I think the limits to your approach have been shown up by the Israel-Palestine case. I'm not sure the State Department's statements that you mention, reflecting official US policy on the crisis, reach out to many folks in the way that you're attempting to Twitter. In part, that is because they are somewhat "traditional", responding only after the policymakers have drafted the proper American line, and in part, it's because that policy seems to be out of touch with the concerns of many on Twitter. To be blunt, the American response seems very slow, given the pace of the crisis, and very "partial" if not "partisan", given its starting point of Hamas terrorism.
So I understand that, in these circumstances, you have to twitter about Apple rather than the developments in Gaza. I'm just not sure that will speak to many of the folks with whom you are hoping to establish a cyber-dialogue.
Yours respectfully,
Scott
Scott,
On the one hand you say that my actions are "a hopeful sign that diplomats recognize the value of communication through (Twitter)"
but then you use your blog to blast me for using it. Wouldn't it be more helpful to encourage others to engage as well rather than
criticize those that do?
By way of reminder, I am in the Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs and my goal is not to be a rapid-response policy voice on
U.S. foreign policy. It is to communicate what we are doing on public diplomacy in my Bureau. If you or others are interested in timely updates
on US foreign policy you might want to sign up for the State Department's twitter feed which can be found here: http://twitter.com/dipnote
Or, for Middle East policy information sign up for the email update from the Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs through the link in my post above.
There is a constant flow of information--including the transcript from the press briefing which just took place.
No need for the false choice dig at the end.
Hope this information is helpful.
Yours,
Colleen
Colleen,
I apologise for any cheap shot. In my opinion, the biggest challenge for public diplomats is to be responsive, not only in the sense of timeliness but in the sense of responsiveness, within the context of a country's foreign policy. For example, I'm really pleased to see the State Department's engagement with media freedom and green diplomacy when that fits broader US foreign policy goals.
On the other hand, my sense is that public diplomats (not only in the US but in any country) are limited in what they can do in a case where policy backs one state/group against another --- in the current Gaza episode, I think it limits the contact/engagement public diplomats can have with not only the political leadership but with the Gazan people (and I fear that Gaza is only one example, in the complexity of Middle Eastern politics, where US public diplomacy has been hamstrung in recent years).
This is a running debate that I have with colleagues --- my co-editor Ali Fisher and I have just disagreed over the space and possibilities for public diplomacy in a forthcoming book --- let alone Government representatives! And I appreciate that opinion may be more heated because of current events.
So, to end on a positive note. Thank you so much for opening up the possibilities of engagement on this site, both through your responses and through the links. If this can be used for co-operation and dialogue, even as we may disagree on specific points, it offers hope.
Scott
Scott, Colleen has been a true diplomat in her responses here and in her online twitter communications. She has been both open about her mission about public diplomacy in Europe and Eurasia. She has used Twitter effectively to communicate public diplomacy in her area as well as using Twitter for such questions like what might be a good computer or who is a good model for blogging. Further she has been gracious in thanking others for the information they have provided. I think she is an excellent role model for US public diplomacy. On the other hand you took one of her comments out of context and tied it with an emotionally charged diplomatic and political subject like the conflict in Gaza. That is really sensationalism and unfair to those of us who would like to expand discussions on how to use social media in government.
Kelcy,
Thank you. I have great respect for Ms Graffy and her work, both in the private and public sectors. I also did not mean to demean her intentions and the general ambition to use social media in reaching out and engaging with audiences, not only for an understanding of US foreign policy but for an appreciation of their ambitions and points of view.
My initial comment was meant to raise a wider point --- how effectively can a public diplomat, in this case the Assistant Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy, engage with audiences at a time of not only military but political and humanitarian crisis? In particular, how can that engagement be pursued when the public diplomat's government is supporting one state in that conflict?
Understandably, Twitter is alight with comments, thoughts, and information on what is happening inside Gaza. I think it may be fair to say that Twitter is now outpacing even "traditional" media in providing news, for example, on the humanitarian situation. But, as of now, US public diplomats have been unable to use Twitter --- to my knowledge --- other than to reproduce two official State Dep't statements and to invite responses (on 28 December) to the question, "What Means Are Available To Resume a Path Toward Israeli-Palestinian Peace?"
That's not to demean what US public diplomats are seeking to do. It's just that I think they are very limited --- in a case such as this --- in what they can do. And I worry that this limitation, perhaps unfairly, may overshadow the good work and potential to which Ms Graffy points.
Yours,
Scott
I have found Ms. Graffy's foray into "twi"-plomacy inspiring. And, unlike this blogger, I like the personal tweets as well, as they show that this technology has the potential to make diplomats more accessible, in addition to diplomacy itself. Rather than focusing on the fact that some of 'the personal' infiltrated Colleen's microblogging, I think we should be praising the fact that her efforts have brought news of diplomatic efforts into otherwise personal Twitter feeds such as mine.
Please keep tweeting!
M
Scott,
I encourage you to use Twitter. If you're already on it - I encourage you to disclose your handle here so we can check up on your stream, too.
If you haven't used Twitter before, you will soon come to see that - just as you go home, relax, think about Mac vs. PC (or whatever else) and don't solely eat, breath and sleep EnduringAmerica.com - users tend to post a healthy mix of the professional and the personal. That is the point of Twitter, and that's why users like Colleen and I like it. Twitter was not designed to solely solve world-wide crises, but it can help in little ways. Just like your blog helps watch-dog the government, and just like you go home and cheer your daughter on at her softball game (or whatever), having Colleen on Twitter (or you, or anyone with good, original ideas, trying to change the world in a positive way!) is a good thing.
Emma,
Thanks. The issue may be that, as we've tried to build up the website since its launch in November and as we've live-blogged since Saturday, it has been a case of "eat, breath, and sleep Enduring America"! So while I've been working with the www.twitter.com/enduring stream over the last few days, I haven't had a look-in at my personal one....
That said, you may a great point about the personal v. the professional/political. And here I think the lines got blurred in Ms. Graffy's column in the Washington Post on 24 December: "One clear lesson that emerged from the Cold War was that winning hearts and minds required communicating in a way that “connected” with people on their terms, whether through film or jazz or jeans. To keep our public diplomacy relevant today, we have to reach out and connect with people on their terms, whether we use blogs or texts — or tweets."
Note the "our" --- that's not just a personal one, but a Governmental one. And so when I went to Ms Graffy's stream, I read it not just as a personal stream but as one putting across US Government's message. And so --- perhaps unjustly --- I wondered what it meant that this stream was making no reference to the events that are causing so much chatter (personal and political) across Twitter.
Am I unfair in saying that this blurring of the personal and Governmental is what may be causing issues with the use of social media for public diplomacy?
Scott
A quick reassurance to you (but more importantly to me): I did have time to enjoy my kids' dancing and games today!
Mike W. / Kelcy (and Scott and Colleen)- I can't speak for Scott but in my opinion he wasn't criticising the use of Twitter for public diplomacy per se, or Colleen's use of the personal in her tweets. His point was that while the situation was becoming very serious in Gaza- and while those of us who use Twitter were closely following events there- Colleen's most recent tweet was a personal one. I fully support Colleen's use of her Twitter account and her mixture of personal and 'political' posts, but I think the issues Scott raises are valid.
I've been using Twitter for a long time now and in the time I've been using it it's gone from being a slightly geeky niche site to one of my main sources of news, opinion and debate. If the Twitter activity surrounding the 2008 US election, the Mumbai attacks and now Gaza (to name just a few examples) is anything to go by, people the world over are going to keep turning to Twitter whenever momentous events occur. I guess this debate highlights one of the limitations of Twitter, because no matter how insightful and intelligent your tweets are, if your most recent one is flippant or overly-personal (especially at a time of crisis) it can look bad. Colleen has the added pressure of speaking on behalf of the US government. I think it's important that public diplomats grapple with these issues now, because every day there are more people turning to Twitter and sites like it for their news- and their opinions.
Following up on Emma's comment, here's me on Twitter :)
http://twitter.com/mikedunn
(Though I'm sometimes on http://twitter.com/enduring too...)
Scott,
While, it is true that this particular post does not have much relevance to political topics, I think you miss the point completely. Public Diplomacy is effective because it is (or should be) based on a two-way or dialogic communication scheme, whereby each actor becomes comfortable and builds trust with the other and exchanges ideas. I find Colleen’s active use of twitter a great step into the social networking realm, which has long ignored by traditional diplomatic actors. Plus, let us not forget that this mode of communication melds public and private, so there is an understanding that the topics one communicates about will not always be the same from ‘tweet to tweet.’
For example, I know that Colleen works for the state department and is an influential individual in forming public diplomacy policy for our nation. In the past I, like many others, might have felt somewhat alienated from the policy decisions made by the government. Many times citizens feel like they have little input and are not being heard. Well, Colleen’s interaction has allowed her to build relationships which may help alleviate some of that uneasiness about voicing opinions and giving feedback on policy decisions. After all, this is a democracy and we need to find ways to collect the opinions of the citizenry and act upon it appropriately, but you can only do that with open, fair interaction.
I agree that the United States has a lot to learn about creating effective and representative communications campaigns that reflect the voice of the citizens and are not ignored as pure rhetoric, however, we must start somewhere. Colleen, in essence, is a pioneer, and by commenting negatively on her efforts before progress can be made, you almost certainly undermine the possibility that change will occur.
I look forward to reading more of your tweets, Colleen.
Regards,
Anthony Deos
Scott and Mike,
Thanks for your follow-ups! Mike, thank you for publishing your Twitter stream. And Scott, I'm glad you got to hang out with your kids!! Keep up the good work, both of you, I know how hard launching a new site and keep content fresh all the time is.
But to be fair, I would just like to point out that Mike's most recent post is about kids being sick (I think) and @enduring looks to be solely run by Twitter Tools (a feed) with little-to-no interaction.
I am totally okay with both of these techniques. Support them, even! I'm excited that we are all interacting in exciting and intelligent ways!
But if either of you are going to critique diplomacy techniques on Twitter, I'd like to see you put your money where your mouth is, first. Isn't there always a crisis going on somewhere in the world, Scott? Don't we also always have to feed our kids dinner and think about our own mundane day-to-day anyway, too? We all wish it wasn't so, of course, so let's all be in this together!
I was hoping Mike and I could get by as a tag-team with his personal stream and our news/analysis stream @enduring. The latter does offer the chance for interaction --- indeed I used it last night to chat with Ms Graffy about our exchange here.
But I think you're right: to get full interaction (and open disclosure), I'm at www.twitter.com/expatbama (no prizes for guessing where the tag comes from). Look forward to meeting up with you there.
Just a quick follow-up. I had been combining the personal with the political at Facebook where posts from EA are side-by-side with the more important things in life like getting my wife and mother-in-law back from the US!
Emma- thanks again for your comment. Just to follow-up Scott's follow-up, Scott's sent tens if not hundreds of tweets from @enduring in the past few days on the Gaza crisis- only a handful of tweets on the most recent few pages came from Twitter Tools (they're the ones that start 'New blog post...'). The interaction is starting to come, but since it's a new Twitter account relating to a new blog, this has taken some time (we've only really started picking up followers since we started tweeting on #Gaza...).
As for my Twitter account, I'm just a postgrad student with a part-time job in a school- it's a personal account and unlike @Colleen_Graffy I'm not speaking on behalf of anyone/ anything else from it. So while I do support the blending of the personal and political for Colleen, for me, and for anyone else, I feel that there is a difference there.
First comment long after this conversation finished!...
I don't 'get' twitter at all.
What's the difference between twitter / 'web 2.0' technologies and other forms of written word, bar a lack of editing, depth, fact verification and excessive solipsism?
Actually, more seriously, all this kind of conversation seems to be about is diminishing returns. Culturally (and maybe philosophically, or even god forbid, morally) surely the point of political discourse is to better understand the word and to better understand how to live toward accepted shared aims within that world (descriptions valid, I think, for right or left).
So, er, how exactly does something like twitter help? There is a big difference between 'immediate' information, quantities of information and 'useful' information, and twitter widens the gap rather than narrowing it. My point isn't to worry about someone who 'tweets' (JEEESUS!) about an experience in an Apple store, but someone who feels that twitter can replace decent information about events. IMHO (!) when someone 'twitters' on some vapid detail of their day it's what twitter is for. It is not designed to provide decent details and info about an event.
That's not to say that somehow our 'old' way of receiving information is automatically better but I see it as a score draw at best.
Also, philosophically (or, psychologically, I dunno!) twitter isn't normal communication at all - because you don't look at one another or even hear one another it will always be a tiny part of anything. I find it fascinating that the only relevance of twitter that I can see is when it becomes part of wider (but age old) discourse, usually with a conversation that starts "did you see on twitter..."
Or, I think I am trying to say, if you want to understand the world, get out into it!
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