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Each week, I publish a list of interesting articles, essays and reports that may be of interest to the digital diplomacy community. This week- The Age of Social Media Is Ending (The Atlantic) ‘Fix your companies. Or Congress will,” Senator Ed Markey warns Elon Musk (The Verge) WhatsApp India head Abhijit Bose, Meta India public... Continue Reading →
Denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance. These are the five stages of grief according to Elisabeth Kubler-Ross, and the five emotions expressed by Twitter users since the social network was acquired by Elon Musk. It began with denial, specifically promises by Twitter executives and Musk himself that the social network would remain a vibrant town... Continue Reading →
Throughout history, communications scholars have ascribed varying degrees of power to technology. In the 1940s and 50s, movies and television were viewed as powerful mediums that could alter the worldviews, opinions and beliefs of viewers. Some labeled these mediums as “magic bullets” that could at once impact an entire society. It was for this reason... Continue Reading →
Each week, I publish a list of interesting articles, essays and reports that may be of interest to the digital diplomacy community. This week- Market downturn sparks longest US tech IPO drought in over 20 years (The Financial Times) Clearview AI, Used by Police, Now in Public Defenders’ Hands (The New York Times) VR and... Continue Reading →
The practice of digital diplomacy has altered considerably since its inception in the wake of the 9/11 terrorist attack. Early digital diplomacy initiatives focused on using virtual platforms to overcome the limitations of traditional diplomacy. For instance, in 2008 Sweden launched the world’s first virtual Embassy in the online world of Second Life. This Embassy... Continue Reading →
On Wednesday, August 31st, it was announced that former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev died aged 91. As is the case with any major event, different news outlets narrated Gorbachev’s differently. Newspapers, websites and bloggers all adopted different narratives, or frames when depicting Gorbachev . For instance, the BBC headline read “Mikhail Gorbachev: Last Soviet leader... Continue Reading →
This week I have published a new working paper examining Russia's practice of 'Selfie Diplomacy' during 2020-2021. The Working paper begins by discussing why nostalgia is such a common sentiment in todays' world, arguing that nostalgia is an attempt to force logic onto an incoherent world. Next, the working paper examines the Selfie and asserts... Continue Reading →
Each week, I publish a list of interesting articles, essays and reports that may be of interest to the digital diplomacy community. This week – Perils of Preaching Nationalism Play Out on Chinese Social Media (The New York Times) UK Parliament closes TikTok account after China data warning (BBC News)Corruption is sending shock waves through... Continue Reading →
The Russia-Ukraine war has witnessed the emergence of new social media practices. The Ukrainian government, for one, has been using social media to crowdfund its armed forces and create an IT army charged with cyber-attacks against Russia. Yet the war has also seen the growing use of memes. Ukrainian diplomats and government ministries have published... Continue Reading →
On Monday, the Council of the European Union published a policy report outlining the EU’s new approach to digital diplomacy. As I argue in this blog post, the EU’s policy report is important for three reasons. First, it was published in the midst of the Russia-Ukraine War in which digital technologies have played a crucial... Continue Reading →
Exploring Digital Diplomacy 