On Twitter DiplomacyForeign Policy Professionals as the Communicators of Public Diplomacy

The communication environment of international relations has undergone tremendous changes in recent decades. In recent years, special attention has been paid to the rise of Twitter as an important arena for public diplomacy and world politics. Heads of state, governments and foreign ministries around the world have chosen Twitter as one of their main social media channels. This study examines Finnish foreign policy professionals’ (N = 125) communication agency and interaction involvement on Twitter. In addition, the goal was to study their perceptions of the benefits of Twitter diplomacy for Finland. In terms of communication agency, the focus was on the meanings given to personal participation. Interaction involvement, in turn, is primarily related to an individual’s ability to be part of the communication situation and thus in relation to other communicators. Thus, it provides a conceptual framework for clarifying engagement in Twitter diplomacy, as it reflects all levels of communication competence, from interpretive competence to message competence. In terms of the benefits of Twitter diplomacy, issues related to media publicity, relationship building, and reputation and country image were examined. Quantitative and qualitative research methods were combined in the analysis of online administered survey data. The results show that diplomats and other foreign policy professionals who use Twitter in their work think positively about its benefits for public diplomacy. Regarding communication agency, the participants were divided into three groups according to whether their responses emphasized issues related to interaction (public diplomats) or the visibility and effectiveness of communication (publicity diplomats), or whether they considered personal involvement at all important (undertone diplomats). The more important personal participation was considered, the higher the level of interaction involvement. Interaction involvement was also associated with higher estimates of the overall benefits of Twitter diplomacy and the benefits associated with building and maintaining relationships.Peer reviewe