Twiplomats and Technorati

Trending this week in PD News were stories about digital diplomacy. Headlines showcased the social side of networked communications, exploring its possibilities in both connecting countries and communities in dialogue, and in countering violent extremism. In Africa, foreign ministries are “migrat[ing] en masse to social network sites,” recognizing its potential in three key areas: diaspora diplomacy, networked diplomacy, and nation branding, while in China, India and the Middle East, social networking apps such as Grindr have “opened up a new digital frontier for gays” in nations where homosexuality is illegal. Meanwhile in the United States, U.S. President Barack Obama was voted the most powerful world leader on Facebook—followed closely by Indian President Narendra Modi—and Facebook, in partnership with foreign partners in Berlin and London, launched a digital campaign to stop the spread of hate speech and radical ideologies online. 

• 5 Ways Social Media Is Changing "Business As Usual" for Governments—Huffington Post
• Barack Obama and Narendra Modi Are the Most Popular World Leaders on Facebook —i4u News
• Digital Diplomacy in Africa: A Research Agenda—CPD Blog
• Facebook Launches New Initiative Against Online Extremism And Hate Speech--Forbes
• In countries where gay sex is taboo, Grindr and other apps open a (sometimes perilous) window—LA Times
• Why National Security Officials and Tech Giants Must Team Up to Combat ISIS Online—Good Magazine
• Xi Jinping’s Global Cyber Vision—The Diplomat

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Photo by Roel Wijnants | CC BY-NC 2.0