{"id":3887,"date":"2016-01-20T16:44:03","date_gmt":"2016-01-21T00:44:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/mongolia\/?p=3887"},"modified":"2016-01-20T17:43:48","modified_gmt":"2016-01-21T01:43:48","slug":"mongolia-twiplomacy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/mongolia\/2016\/mongolia-twiplomacy\/","title":{"rendered":"The Many Habits of Successful Mongolian Digital Diplomats"},"content":{"rendered":"

I wrote \u201cThe Way Forward for Canadian Digital Diplomacy<\/a>\u201d for Canada’s\u00a0<\/span>The Embassy<\/span><\/span> on November 18, 2015. I followed this up with a list of more specific about steps that Global Affairs Canada<\/a> might take in developing Twiplomacy if this direction were to be embraced. Another version of this came as “Five Rules to Guide the Future of Canadian Digital Diplomacy<\/a>“, and then I mused about criteria by which the Canadian government might decide which digital diplomacy strategies to go ahead with<\/a>. Below\u00a0is a revision of my list of “Many Habits of Successful Digital Diplomats” for Mongolia.<\/span><\/p>\n

What is Digital Diplomacy?<\/h2>\n

Much has been written about\u00a0Digital Diplomacy (or Twiplomacy, or Diplomacy 2.0), but at its most basic level such a strategy aims to harness the power of new electronic and information technology tools to further the interests of a country. Most prominent in the Twiplomacy toolbox are networked social media, but various big data-driven initiatives are also included in this overall category. While notions of Digital Diplomacy originated in North America, it has spread much beyond, including to Northeast Asia<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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Design by Cameron Tulk<\/p><\/div>\n

Why Mongolian Digital Diplomacy?<\/h2>\n

It’s worth mentioning why Digital Diplomacy might be of particular interest to the Mongolian government.<\/p>\n

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  1. Mongolians have become active and natural digital communicators;<\/li>\n
  2. the 3rd neighbour policy (I’m trying to establish #3NP) targets virtual<\/em> neighbours already;<\/li>\n
  3. Mongolia’s strongest case for its relevance is its status as Asia’s post-state socialist democracy, a claim that can be reinforced through a concerted Digital Diplomacy strategy and leverages the democratic instincts of online communication;<\/li>\n
  4. digital diplomacy can be relatively cost-effective at a time of state budgets under pressure;<\/li>\n
  5. Mongolians in general and Mongolian diplomats in particular are polyglot, so they are able to address audiences in many different languages.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    In his analysis of the network of Twitter links between ministries of foreign affairs<\/a>, Oxford University’s Ilan Manor has found the Twitter account of Mongolia’s MFA<\/a> to be somewhat isolated.<\/p>\n

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    Network Analysis of MFA Twitter Accounts by Ilan Manor. [Graph appears by Permission]<\/p><\/div>Note that Mongolia appears in the bottom left corner here. As you can see all the links at the time of Manor’s analysis were in-bound, i.e. other MFAs linked to Mongolia’s, but the Mongolian MFA didn’t link to other MFAs.<\/p>\n

    As Mongolia’s missions<\/a> have recently made a big push to create Twitter accounts, this lack of strategic linking by the HQ account is certainly a missed opportunity.<\/p>\n

    So, here is my revisions of the “The Many Habits of Successful Canadian Digital Diplomats” for Mongolia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.<\/p>\n

    The Many Habits of Successful Mongolian Digital Diplomats<\/h2>\n

    Process and Management<\/span><\/h3>\n