Xin Zhong Jiayi Lu- Public Diplomacy Model in the Era of Web 2.0 ...

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Gary Locke-US Commerce Secretary who came to China to attend the Second Round of Sino-US Strategic and Economic Dialogue in Beijing-was going to give a speech at Tsinghua University, US Embassy in China distributed the first micro-blogging at 08:36, and during the whole process, it utilized the micro-blogging to “live broadcast” the speech and interact with the people who were not present by virtual means. 3, Integrating Public Diplomacy Resources “Driving force of micro-blogging’ impact is originated from collaborative content production inspired by its role as information service platform as well as information circuit based on users’ social networks. Its essence lies in integrating information resources.” 11 US Embassy’s micro-blogging helps integrate virtual public diplomacy resources by means of “micro-blogging text + link”, and takes the advantage of both on-line and off-line public diplomacy resources. For instance, US Embassy releases the latest information about off-line cultural activities and invites micro-bloggers to win entrance tickets by answering on-line questions. Conclusion Based on the above analysis, the writer tries to conclude the characteristics of US Public Diplomacy 2.0 as: Firstly, US Embassy in China-the traditional communication subject-has gradually converted from real actor to chief designer and platform provider. It organizes the virtual public diplomacy resources, expressing ideas through segmenting topics, setting up narration frame and selecting sources of information. Secondly, in view of communication object, virtual space helps US Embassy or Consulate Generals in China to reach the western areas and Chinese public who are normally overlooked by traditional public diplomacy with “on-line outreaching teams”. Meanwhile, the communication object that is normally at the end of communication value chain is given more opportunities to say. Thirdly, the Internet gives public diplomacy much more communication channels, and the topics which previously were not be shown thoroughly can be expressed in a more personalized and genial manner. Fourthly, social media based on Web 2.0 technologies help public diplomacy break through the traditional limitations in time and space, achieving communication on multiple platforms. In particular, micro-blogging with “embedded” characteristics helps realize the real-time public diplomacy. All these might be concluded with what Judith McHale, Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs in Obama Administration once said “move from an old paradigm, in which our government speaks as one to many, to a new model of engaging interactively and collaboratively across lines that might otherwise divide us from people around the world” 12 . Drawing from the case study shown above, more questions need further research: Firstly, blog and micro-blogging platforms are mainly used to inform the public of “what I’m doing” at current stage, and there is still a long way to go to inform the public of “what I’m thinking”, and the latter is actually the key point of “War of Ideas”. As for how to make use of the voices from Chinese in US and Chinese media so as to express ideas, it also deserves further study. Secondly, social media enhance the interaction between communication subject and object, yet the case study shows that on-line interaction at current stage is still confined to the model of “comment-reply”. Whether the voices from the public “heard” and is there any feedback after being “heard” still need to be explored. Thirdly, social media can help display the same public diplomacy resource on different platforms, but in light of the importance of personal brand to micro-blogging communication, how to integrate and distribute information based on respective characteristics of blog and micro-blogging is the key point in the future research. 1 Barry Fulton, The Uses of Modern Technology in Public Diplomacy, Engaging the Arab & Islamic 8
Worlds through Public Diplomacy: A Report and Action Recommendation, p 23 2 James K. Glassman, Former Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs, once mentioned in a speech in 2008 that the United States was adept in “War of Ideas” during the cold war, but since the collapse of Berlin wall, “War of Ideas” stepped down. 9/11 attacks in 2001 let Bush administration recognized the importance of “War of Ideas” again. 3 Philip Seib, Transnational Journalism, Public Diplomacy, and Virtual States, p12, see: http://uscpublicdiplomacy.org/Melbourne%202009%20paper.pdf 4 See Philip Seib, Transnational Journalism, Public Diplomacy, and Virtual States, http://uscpublicdiplomacy.org/Melbourne%202009%20paper.pdf 5 See James K. Glassman, Public Diplomacy 2.0: A New Approach to Global Engagement, http://merln.ndu.edu/archivepdf/nss/state/112605.pdf 6 The writer selects the contents of US Embassy’s blogs at Tencent and Sina, micro-bloggings at Tencent and Sina from June 1 to December 31, 2010 as the sample pool, and pick out the texts on 5 th , 10 th , 15 th , 20 th , 25 th and 30 th every month: 25 texts on Tencent and Sina blogs respectively, 100% matches together; 99 texts and 102 texts on Tencent micro-blogging and Sina micro-blogging respectively, 95 texts match together. 7 See: http://user.qzone.qq.com/622008844 8 See: http://t.qq.com/USEmbassy 9 This term is inspired by the article Micro-blogging: From Embed-Suit Mechanism to Profit Model by Yu Guoming 10 Kai-fu Lee, Micro-blogging Changes Everything: Shanghai University of Finance and Economics Press, 2011, p 60 11 Yu Guoming, Micro-blogging: From Embed-Suit Mechanism to Profit Model See http://qnjz.dzwww.com/qybg/201008/t20100811_5761018.htm 12 See Helle C. Dale, Public Diplomacy 2.0: Where the U.S. Government Meets “New Media”, http://origin.heritage.org/Research/Reports/2009/12/Public-Diplomacy-2-0-Where-the-US- Government-Meets-New-Media 9
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