Making Foreign Policy Through Twitter: An Analysis of Trump's Tweets on Iran

Digital Diplomacy As A Tool Of Public Diplomacy

Social media has penetrated the world culture far more than we possibly thought.The scope and breadth of new forms of communication, especially social media, has created vital changes in the way individuals, groups, governments, businesses and nations communicate, which greatly affects their thinking and behavior. Foreign policy making and diplomacy as the main tool of conducting foreign policy of a nation have also been affected with the changes in the communication technology. Foreign policy refers to the general objectives that guide the interactions of a state with other states. Diplomacy is the main instrument of foreign policy, which consists of wider goals and strategies that direct a state's interactions with the rest of the world. Today, most of the state institutions and the leaders have a presence on digital media platforms.

The use of digital technologies and social media platforms by the states in their interactions with the other states is called as “digital diplomacy. Digital diplomacy did not replace traditional diplomacy rather it complements and coexists with each other . (Adesina, 2017: 1). According to Manor (2015), digital diplomacy is the process by which a country uses social media more widely to achieve its foreign policy goals and proactively manages its own image and reputation. Hanson (2012) states that digital diplomacy has eight political goals which are knowledge management, public diplomacy, information management, consular communications and response, disaster response, Internet freedom, external sources and policy planning.