Review of the Use of Social Media by the US Department of State

Embassies’ primary goal in establishing social media sites is to reach a younger audience. Those who succeeded in attracting a large and interactive audience had put a concerted effort into it and promoted it actively. However, not all embassies succeeded in building a large and interactive audience. Social media have proven useful in a crisis to keep people informed about the situation. Embassy Bangkok, for example, used Facebook and Twitter to keep American citizens and the public at large informed about the volatile security situation and the status of embassy operations during the recent political crisis in Thailand.

If you found this engaging, read more about our Information Operations event, to be held on 29-30 June 2011 in London.