Twiplomacy: the meaning of social media to public diplomacy and foreign policy of Lithuania

Importance of public diplomacy for states foreign policy implementation and image formation continued to grow over past few decades. New communication technologies provided new means for more successful public diplomacy implementation. The aim of this article is to examine the role of twiplomacy in states foreign policy implementation. Twiplomacy is quite new phenomenon, but its significance is undeniable. A lot of states leaders, governmental institutions, diplomatic missions and diplomats have accounts in Twitter and use it for promoting foreign policy goals and developing positive image of state. Social networks are used to implement states’ public diplomacy, because they provide opportunity to reach mainstream audiences, to develop dialogue amongst politicians and wider audiences and influence people opinion on important issues