Twitter’ng with diplomacy and its apps

POTUS is probably the most popular of the world’s leaders for using tech as a way to directly communicate with his constituents. He has also used the platform for foreign diplomacy, tweeting about the North Korean supreme leader as “rocket man.” In the end, however, forging a sincere partnership with the dictator was a turnaround scenario for the most powerful man in the world.

Diplomacy today is more transparent, leveled on public public opinion. In the Philippines for example, public opinion is swayed by the mas trolling. With Mocha Uson gone for example, the effect is much lesser.

Twitter since 2012 has be diplomacy for many leaders. So much so that a social phenomena called “Twiplomacy” or “hashtag diplomacy,” has developed from the use of social network and microblogging websites.

Donald Trump is not the first on Twitter. Former US President Barack Obama is the a Twitter account, purposely for the 2008 presidential campaign. Up until 2016, he was also the most followed head of state, according to Twitter. The social media platform listed him as user number 813,286 on March 5, 2007.

Wikipedia says that other heads of state who are on Twitter and actively used Twiplomacy include Mexican and President Enrique Peña Nieto Belgian Prime Minister Elio Di Rupo. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has @CanadianPM, following his predecessor Stephen Harper who joined Twitter in 2007.

But it is POTUS Trump who has used the platform extremely actively, tweeting directly many times a day since his election in November 2016. His active engagement with Twitter diplomacy has changed American foreign policies. When he ranted that he has a “bigger button and it works,” to Kim Jong Un, North Korea began to open up to the West, without heavy penalties and sanctions.

Trump who considered Kim as petty and called him names later after a heated and humorous exchange of Tweets actually opened up a door to a conversation. After meeting him, Trump considered him “sincere” and a “great leader.” So much was the shift that when Trump’s decided two summits with Kim in Singapore and then in Vietnam, he surely realized that the historic situation was actually ironic. But surreally successful. Korea before the DMZ was America’s biggest war cesspool, even more than Vietnam because it was the trigger for the Cold War and this generation’s most

Now world leaders know and make use of Twitter’s rapid expansion, as POTUS is using it successfully. A 2013 study by the website Twiplomacy found that 153 of the 193 countries represented at the United Nations had established government Twitter accounts. The result is nearly 150 million followers.

And now heads of state and their diplomats conduct diplomatic outreach and public diplomacy on Twitter. As this is happening, the diversity in diplomatic communications happens on the platform. Things from invitations to events, to calls for bilateral cooperation, to innovating to get the public into a discussion, and even town halls utilize Twitter. And in very undiplomatic terms, diplomats also use terse language to push or jab both of friends and enemies of the state. But based on Twitter reports, there are more friendly and casual posts than

Pope Francis is one head of state who joined Twitter for a different reason. According to on Twitter actually come from him and not from a social me tweets of @Pontifex are biblical passages and feasts of saints, of diplomacy of the Pontiff. He is seen as never confrontational, but the truth is he is a straight shooter especially on matters of morals and social justice.

For example today, in his of Emirates, he said the country “belongs to the “surprises” of God. So let us praise Him and His providence, and pray that the seeds sown may bring forth fruits of peace..” which connects the Catholic church with the mood and manner of Islam. The hashtag of his visit is simple. #ApostolicJourney #UAE.

Aside from Twitter, let me suggest a few apps I believe diplomats can use.

Google Earth. (free, iTunes, Android, Windows) Google Earth has developed from a geographer’s and cartographer’s delight to a powerful tool for learning the Earth and for diplomats knowing to differentiate between many countries in Africa, to what are the actual coordinates between Kenya and Kazakhstan.

Press Reader. (free, iOS, Android, Windows, mobile and desktop). Newspapers and magazines still make the world. Even if there are many online site and versions of the big publications, there are also 160 countries and almost the same number of languages, keeping up on foreign press coverage is important. Press Reader has over 2,000 full content papers.

Plane Finder. (free, iOS, Android, Windows, mobile and desktop, $4.45 with important additional fun features) This around since 2009. Not only does it find and follow live check real- time airport status information. It also has fun stuff like PlaneF inder AR. It works by at planes in the sky to see where they are going (included in paid Plane Finder app). This is a real crowd pleaser!

WhatsApp. (free, iOS, Android, Windows, mobile and desktop). The very platform is a diplomacy platform. The app is found in institutions like the UN and at EU headquarters. When a large numbers of diplomats needing to communicate rapidly and secretly, the encryption and speed of WhatsApp are put into good use.

An internal report at the UK’s British diplomats use WhatsApp to discuss sensitive issues.

Facebook. Change the world? It has its lion’s share. Enough said.