The original testing ground for new possibilities
These days, you no longer need to fly halfway across the world to join your chosen extremist cause. You can be a jihadi from behind your screen, contributing to the effort with propaganda or cyber attacks. The public profile of the so-called ‘Islamic State’ (IS) and their online supporters should disabuse any notion that … Read More “Tackling ISIS messaging requires a new strategic approach” »
New report, written with David Montez, published through the InterMedia Global Research Network, In this study (available here) we; (1) discuss research methods needed to develop, implement, and evaluate social media campaigns in public diplomacy; (2) assess the State Department’s use of digital media to support President Obama’s March 2011 visit to Brazil; and (3) offer recommendations … Read More “Evaluating Online Public Diplomacy Using Digital Media Research Methods, A Case Study of #ObamainBrazil,” »
Depending on your connection speed it may take a minute to load… Frail and Bedazzled: Identifying Coordination Points, Structures and Structural Holes in Digital Networks on Prezi
While the enthusiasm for using digital media to engage with individuals around the world shows little sign of abating, interestingly the enthusiasm for discussing hard data about those interactions seems to be lagging behind. While not every Public Diplomat need nor can be expected to have a detailed knowledge of vast spreadsheets with numerous columns and … Read More “Using digital media? Be serious about visualizing the data” »
The evaluation of Government 2.0 initiatives using a network analysis approach, has demonstrated the importance of understanding the type of the network which is being engaged through social media. The value of consciously considering whether the initiative will be centralised around Government or dispersed throughout society should not be overlooked. This may unlock the potential … Read More “#g2g” »
James Glassman’s first speech on his vision for Public Diplomacy, hosted at the Council for Foreign Relations, provides an interesting view of the tensions that arise when the US perspective on Public Diplomacy is articulated. To be fair to Glassman, the tensions he faces are not unique to the US. They are problematic for any … Read More “Is there a glass ceiling in “network engagementâ€?” »
Due to busy week I’ll just put two great links that demonstrate the importance of creating empowering links between peopel and particularly between different specialisms online. Yochai Benkler: Open-source economics from TED and a site sharing the Many Eyes; A service that combines information visualization with social software, enabling collaborative visualization by groups of users. … Read More “Linking ideas” »
The publication of Mapping Iran’s Online Public: Politics and Culture in the Persian Blogosphere by John Kelly, and Bruce Etling at Harvard demonstrates the way in which mapping the networks of bloggers can provide and insight into the way they cluster around certain topics. This is the image that study produced; Both image and report … Read More “Looking at the Iranian Blogosphere” »
The rapid development of new technology has enabled the creation of mass instant communication and rapid information dissemination. This technology also allows rapid collection of data and the production of data maps and network diagrams. While I’ll pursue the important variations of network diagrams another day, today I’ll focus on highlighting the potential of these … Read More “of networks and data maps” »
Each community, particularly online, has its own cultural and social expectations. To be able to engage successfully, the international actor has to navigate not just the practical barriers, for example learning how to upload videos, but also these cultural and social barriers. (Options for Influence, p. 43) Recognising the social and cultural expectations online will … Read More “Engaging with the social and cultural expectations online” »