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Tag: Social Media

Web 2.0 and Social Media

25/11/2020 /

Web 2.0 applications and social media have provided new venues for businesses to inform, understand and connect with their customers. This free book provides a general understanding of using blogs, podcasts, live streaming, wikis, social buzz, social media, and more to enable businesses to rethink their approach and leverage new digital media’s advantages.

Theoretical concepts such as RSS feeds and practical examples such as constructing a WordPress blog are covered in detail. Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Reddit, Tumblr, Pinterest, Klout, and others are examined from a business perspective.

Social MediaImage source: Flickr – mkhmarketing  (CC BY 2.0)

Social media’s impact on war

21/06/2017 /

The largest change brought by social media has been the possibility of access to information. Vietnam, often called the ‘living room war,’ was the first war broadcast into our homes through our TVs. Many antiwar movements claimed that this mediatization helped fuel the movement and ultimately helped end the war. The advent of social media imposes to put the question: what is social media’s role and influence on war and conflict?

The answer, according to Sarah Jones author of this article, is digital diplomacy, disruption, hashtag revolutions/movements, and what I call iWars.

Sarah Jones defines the Digital diplomacy as “the communication and management of international relations in the digital sphere”.

In today’s world, foreign ministries, governments, politicians, and candidates around the world are actively trying to develop digital strategies. Some use them to threaten the enemy. Others to speak and to be heard. Others to monitor. Others to recruit. Few of them use them for the purpose they were intended: to answer people concerns.

The author of this article, Sarah Jones, selected in 2016 as one of the top one thousand most influential Twitter profiles from across the worlds of marketing, advertising, digital and media by The Drum, IBM’s Watson and Twitter, spoke about the impact of social media on war following the invitation of the US Central Command (CENTCOM).

To read more about this topic, read here the full article.

 

Image source: Flickr – Khalld Albalh (CC-BY 2.0)

5 secrets to eliminate your online distractions

09/03/2017 /

Today we are simply overwhelmed by digital data, which make it very difficult to make our average workday a productive and focused one. Just consider how much time we spend daily on our email inbox, trying to read and answer to everybody and file every message. According to the digital explorer Alexandra Samuel (Work smarter with social media), having a clean Inbox is not only impossible, it is also a waste of time, and she provides five useful tips to resist the constant assault of online distraction:

  1. Stop trying to keep up. Instead of keeping up, make your goal keeping focused by being extremely clear about your priorities, both short and long term.
  2. Your most important online work happens offline. Be clear about what actually matters to you, before opening your computer.
  3. Match your digital life to your real-life priorities. Set email filters and, most importantly, make sure you’re setting up shortcuts and prioritizing what’s most relevant.
  4. Get your news all in one day. Use a newsreader which aggregate articles and create a news feed that lets you read stories and get information across the Internet all in one place.
  5. Don’t reflexively fill idle time with screen time. if you have less than five minutes of free time, resist the urge to fill it with smartphone time.

Read the full article on Fastcompany

image source: Pixabay (CC0)

 

Cybersecurity: Social Media

01/11/2014 /

The Diplocalendar 2014 realised by S. Baldi and E. Gelbstein is dedicated to “Cybersecurity: Guidelines for diplomats” and is based on the assumption that “Cyberspace is inherently insecure“.

For the month of November the attention is drawn on “Social Media”

Diplocalendar2014_Page_24Image: Diplofoundation

The set of images used in the Diplocalendar 2014 can also be consulted on Slideshare

Ten tips for using social media

24/10/2013 /

The spread of social media has affected the way in which public institutions communicate with the public. Nowadays, governments have understood that social media have some benefits when used to be connected with citizens in a more transparent and accountable way, by communicating 1-to many rather than repeatedly 1-to-1. Social media are one of the few ways a government can directly and instantly receive feedback on its policies and decisions.

However, civil servants should be particularly careful when using social media, especially in their own time. In social media the boundaries between professional and personal can sometimes be blurred, and commenting on some issues could carry some risks, such as disclosing official information without authority or compromising the impartial service to the government.

For this reason, in UK Government Digital Service and Home Office have established social media guidelines for civil servants. The guidelines include these ten tips for using social media:

1. Have a clear idea of your objectives in using social media (behaviour change/service delivery/consultation/communication);

2. Learn the rules of each social media space before engaging;

3. Abide by the Civil Service Code and ask for advice if you are not sure;

4. Remember an official account belongs to the Department not the individual;

5. Communicate where your citizens are;

6. Build relationships with your stakeholders on and offline – social media is just one of many communication channels;

7. Try not to channel shift citizens backwards (move from email to telephone for example);

8. Do not open a channel of communication you cannot maintain;

9. Understand when a conversation should be taken offline;

10. Do not engage with users who are aggressive/abusive;

Read more on: http://bit.ly/KClufb

Barack Obama's tweet on November 7, 2012 in Paris after his re-election as US president

Image source: http://bit.ly/168Odoj

How to Become a Social Media Expert

22/10/2013 /

Ted Coiné lists his ideas on how to become a social media expert

  1. Focus on Your Passion, Rather Than on Social Media
  2. Use Social As a Tool (that’s all it is, you know)
  3. DO NOT BROADCAST! Don’t use social as a shouting platform, Talk to people
  4. Take Time to Tend Your Social Garden Every Day
  5. If You Want To Become an Expert (at anything), You’d Better Be Obsessed

And remember that you won’t become a social media expert by focusing on the media part of this medium. Focus on the social. Different media will come and go. The platform might go out of fashion, but your network, your friends, will still be around – they’ll migrate to a different platform, that’s all!

Read more: http://switchandshift.com/how-to-become-a-social-media-expert

social-media-shares

image source: http://bit.ly/15SlkXy

Twitter for diplomats: A guide to the fastest-growing digital diplomacy tool

04/03/2013 /

DiploFoundatwitter4diplomatstion and Istituto Diplomatico of the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs have published Twitter for Diplomats by Andreas Sandre (@andreas212nyc).

It is the first publication in a series designed to analyse how social media diplomacy helps create – and maintain – a true conversation between policymakers and citizens, between diplomats and foreign public.

The book is not a technical manual, or a list of what to do and not to do. It is rather a collection of information, anecdotes, and experiences. It recounts episodes involving foreign ministers and ambassadors, as well as their ways of interacting with the tool and exploring its great potential. It wants to inspire ambassadors and diplomats to open and nurture their Twitter accounts – and to inspire all of us to use Twitter to better listen and open our minds.

‘Social media exposes foreign policymakers to global audiences while at the same time allowing governments to reach them instantly,’ explains Italy’s Foreign Minister, GiulioTerzi (@GiulioTerzi) in his preface to the book. ‘Twitter has two big positive effects on foreign policy: it fosters a beneficial exchange of ideas between policymakers and civil society and enhances diplomats’ ability to gather information and to anticipate, analyze, manage, and react to events.’

Twitter for diplomats is a practical and engaging guide for making the work of diplomats more effective and impactful. You can consult the online version from Diplo’s publication site or you can download it here.  Read Andreas Sandre’s post about the publication. For information about the printed version please write to diplobooks@diplomacy.edu.

Tom Fletcher’s “Twiplomacy”

28/05/2012 /

Tom Fletcher is the UK Ambassador in Lebanon and is one of the most active diplomats on social media. He has an original blog, concerning his diplomatic activities. One of his inspiring posts is titled:“Twiplomacy: riding the digital tiger”.

Here is the lead paragraph of the post:
“Diplomacy at its best has always been about both interpreting and shaping the world. Diplomats who only do the former should be in academia. Those who only do the latter should be in politics. Those that want to do both should be on Twitter.”

Read the full article at:
http://ukinlebanon.fco.gov.uk/en/news/?view=Speech&id=706941682

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