Social Media Marketing (SM) News
How Social Media changes diplomatic strategies of the US |
30 Jul 2010 |
New York Times Magazine interviewed Jared Cohen and Alec Ross from the State Department of the US and talked to them about the use of social media platforms in their new approaches to amplify diplomatic efforts and encourage cyber-activism.
"…On Twitter, Cohen, who is 28, and Ross, who is 38, are among the most followed of anyone working for the U.S. government, coming in third and fourth after Barack Obama and John McCain. This didn't happen by chance. Their Twitter posts have become an integral part of a new State Department effort to bring diplomacy into the digital age, by using widely available technologies to reach out to citizens, companies and other nonstate actors.
Ross and Cohen's style of engagement - perhaps best described as a cross between social-networking culture and foreign-policy arcana - reflects the hybrid nature of this approach. Two of Cohen's recent posts were, in order: "Guinea holds first free election since 1958" and "Yes, the season premier [sic] of Entourage is tonight, soooo excited!" This offhand mix of pop and politics has on occasion raised eyebrows and a few hackles (writing about a frappucino during a rare diplomatic mission to Syria; a trip with Ashton Kutcher to Russia in February), yet, together, Ross and Cohen have formed an unlikely and unprecedented team in the State Department…"
Extract from Jesse Lichtenstein, "Digital Diplomacy", NYT Magazine on 12th July 2010
This article has proved an interesting perspective on how social media is changing the dynamics in the political sphere, on top of alternating conventional practices in the business sector.
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