On May 11-12, "Digital Diplomacy: Prospects and Challenges" International Conference organized by Diplomatic School of MFA held in Yerevan. More than 70 diplomats and scholars from around 25 states participate in that event.

At the end of the conference Mediamax talked to one of the most active participants, Special Advisor for Digital diplomacy at the U.S State Department Graham Lampa.

- You participated in a two-day Digital Diplomacy Conference in Yerevan. What do you think about the presence of Armenian diplomacy in social media?

- Armenian Foreign Ministry is very active in social media and was first among the governmental ministries in Armenia to begin using social media to connect with the public. I can see that the ministry’s spokespersons are active on social media and are able to interact with people very directly.

The most interesting thing about the conference was the conversations among people, who actually do the work as practitioners, and scholars, who analyze the use of social media, It gives us a chance to think deeply about what it all means and how social media is best used connect governments and peoples.

Connecting with students of the Diplomatic School was very valuable for us as well, because they challenged us directly to think about new ways of connecting to people and to make the work of diplomacy real for real people in the real world.

- How do you define “digital diplomacy”? U.S. State Secretary John Kerry wrote that using the term “digital diplomacy” is redundant because it has become an integral and inseparable part of diplomacy. Do you think there is still big distinction between digital diplomacy and diplomacy itself and the way which they shape the diplomatic mission and profession?

- I would define the digital diplomacy as the use of internet technologies to advance the overall diplomatic mission. What about Secretary Kerry’s remark, I would agree with and add to that statement. Social media continue mainly to be a tool of public diplomacy, for those staff responsible for doing outreach to foreign publics and connecting peoples across national borders. We will succeed in integrating digital diplomacy into regular diplomacy, when political and economic officers use social media to help them to get their work done.

This includes using it to understand public opinion in the countries they are working, to better inform the Embassy and Foreign Ministry about the needs, desires of the people in that state.

- Do you see any disadvantages and dangers in using social media in diplomacy and foreign affairs?

- There are some dangers in digital diplomacy where we in the United States have also made some mistakes. Sometimes a local staff or junior diplomat may be not as diplomatic as he/she ought to be online. When we work with other countries, such as Armenia, to encourage them to use digital diplomacy, we remind them that despite the fact that everyone has their eyes on the United States and everyone is watching us and some people are waiting for us to make mistakes, we can count just one hand the number of times we have messed up. But when we mess up, we are ready to apologize if necessary. The important thing is that the capabilities that it gives to us go far beyond of these dangers. So it is vital for us to be responsive and accountable to our own people, as well as responsive to people in other countries. It gives us ability to listen to people to better give them what they want.

The technology allows us to listen to the desires and the wishes of people in other countries and how the U.S. can help them to improve own life and their own society. 

- Has the medium changed the message? Does digital diplomacy bring with it a new sort of message? And should a diplomat take into account feedback received from public?

- Professionals need to realize that we serve to the public. Digital technology gives us an ability to better understand areas of improvement, where we as governmental officials need to work harder. The medium is challenging for government officials, because we tend to use a lot of nuance and diplomatic language, which usually may not be as direct as the public would like to see. Thankfully, the medium forces us to be clearer and more direct. That's a challenge for us and for every ministry that are trying to connect real people.

- What are the most common mistakes and failures in using social media? 

- The biggest mistake is being boring and to think about social media as just another way to push out press releases. You really have to speak to the people, and to speak on their terms, that they can understand the importance of the work that you do. People should feel invited to be able to speak back to you, because sometimes if you use jargon and language that is hard to understand people do not feel that they are invited to take part in the conversation.  This can leave them feeling like they do not have anything to say to the “experts.” The challenge is to explain complex issues in simple terms. Social media also makes government better in terms of accountability. That makes government officials better able to communicate their ideas to improve their societies.

- What specifically will you suggest for not being boring? In any case, the main responsibility of Foreign Ministry in social media is to disseminate the official information. What are your proposals to diversify it and to be more interesting while using it?

- We have found that it’s helpful for governmental officials and leaders to be in social media themselves. When people represent themselves, it makes them more open and accountable to the public. In such cases, the public sees the real person behind the institution. So, if you look at the official account of the U.S. State Department or the Armenian Foreign Ministry you think first of all about the building, or a flag, but you should use social media to connect people to people and come together in social media for exchanging the ideas that can help to improve their lives.

- In your opinion, what kind of digital diplomacy strategies should small countries like Armenia use to succeed?

- Actually, social media is uniquely suitable for small countries as well. Armenia is growing in using the social media and during our training with your governmental officials, responsible for communications, I noticed a lot of passion among them to use these tools. When you come to use a social media for country branding or communicating about your country with others, social media gives you a power to extend your resources beyond the physical borders of your state. You also have a benefit from your Diaspora around the world, from your embassies and being able to come together your Diaspora, embassies, and business people, thinking broadly about how to use all the assets that Armenia has around the world, could be a real key to be successful. And digital diplomacy could be a way to achieve this – to connect all those different elements to communicate about Armenia, which is a small, but influential member of the global community.

- What’s the future of digital diplomacy? Where are we headed?

- Digital engagement gives us the power to speak and to listen many people in ways that we never could done before. It also gives people access to government in new ways. That also could give us such a tools as crowdsourcing, when you mobilize crowd to achieve some goals. When we are encouraging our political and economic officers to use social media, beyond just speaking capacity, there is also the listening aspect, which is really vital. I suggest for diplomats using social media to listen to your own people and people in other countries, because it gives you an ability to really understand what is going on. I like to say that the technology allows you to read people’s minds and to see the future. If you follow right people speaking their minds on social media, you see stories developing even before they actually show up on television or newspapers. For diplomats that is the most compelling aspect of social media.

Aram Araratyan talked to Graham Lampa