Δημόσια διπλωματία και μέσα κοινωνικής δικτύωσης. Ο ρόλος των social media στην άσκηση εξωτερικής πολιτικής μέσα από την πρακτική της επικοινωνίας μεγάλων πρεσβειών στο διεθνές περιβάλλον.

Abstract

When in the mid-19th century Lord Palmerston regarded the receipt of the first telegram as a threat to the very existence of the institution of diplomacy, he had no idea that at the beginning of the 21st century the channels of diplomacy could even be virtual. Digital Diplomacy, Twiplomacy, metaverse diplomacy and real-time diplomacy are just some of the terms that have emerged in the literature over the last decade and attribute the diffusion of ever-evolving Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) to diplomatic communication. The once-secretiveness of diplomatic contacts contrasts with the publicity and openness of modern foreign policy. In the midst of technological developments, the key question is how a state can make the best use of the new opportunities that open up, in order to promote its Public Diplomacy and to achieve the realization of national interests. The object of this study is the research on modern practices used on social media by the Embassies of the top five countries in performance in digital diplomacy in Greece, in order to strengthen their Public Diplomacy. The aim of the research is to identify best practices for the formulation of proposals and their integration by the Greek Embassies. The study is structured in three parts. The first two parts include the theoretical part of the work, in which a bibliographic review of primary and secondary sources was performed, and the third part presents the results of the research. In particular, the first part reflects the evolution of diplomacy and clarifies the newly appeared terms of modern diplomacy, while the second part presents the national communication policy and Public Diplomacy, in accordance with the current legislation. The third part presents the results and conclusions that emerged from the research on the official social media accounts maintained by the Embassies of the USA, India, France, the United Kingdom and Russia and the Ambassadors of the USA. and the United Kingdom. The conducted research is governed by a specific methodology that includes Embassy selection criteria, quantitative and qualitative analysis of the accounts, research questions, null hypotheses, analysis of results and conclusions.