Public Diplomacy 2.0—The Application Status, Problems And Solutions Of Chinese And American Social Media In The Field Of Public Diplomacy

Integration of Web 2.0 technology and social media application in public diplomacy has revolutionized the way diplomatic offices and people communicate.Public diplomacy 2.0 is coming.The United States,which has the state of the art information technology,has taken the lead in introducing social media into the public diplomacy field.The five major types of public diplomacy—listening,advocacy,cultural diplomacy,exchange programs,and international broadcasting—have been practiced and extended on social media platforms.There is a tendency to use social media in public diplomacy in the whole world.This paper summarizes three operating modes of the use of social media in public diplomacy: communication mode,active mode,and crisis management mode.However,how effective is social media for public diplomacy purposes? A case study of Sina microblog of the U.S.Embassy in China and the Facebook of the Chinese Consulate General in San Francisco is illustrated to assess the practical effects.Through case analysis,this study believes that in the era of public diplomacy 2.0,social media has become a widely used strategic communication platform,but the level of engagement and interaction between diplomatic offices and people is not that high.In order to address this issue,the study proposes to use social media data,start with the strategic issue management and organize online and offline activities.