Utilizing Twitter for Diplomatic Purposes: An Analytical Study of The Omani Ministry of Foreign Affairs Official Social Media Accounts

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 Assistant Professor, Department of Media, Department of Public Relations and Advertising - Cairo University

2 Researcher at the College of Arts and Social Sciences - Sultan Qaboos University

Abstract

The study aims at analyzing the Omani Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ use of Twitter in managing the issues of the Yemeni war and the Gulf crisis, via revealing the general characteristics of the Omani Ministry of Foreign Affairs account and its tweets. Then, the research describes and analyses the communication strategies of issues management utilized in the Yemeni war and Gulf crisis compared to various scientific models. Mechanisms utilized to increase effectiveness and efficiency of communication strategies regarding managing the Yemeni war and the Gulf crisis via Twitter in the Sultanate of Oman are also discussed.
This descriptive study relies on media survey methodology through applying content analysis and unstructured interviews tools and adopts the Dialogic Theory and Issues Management Strategy as theoretical frameworks.
The results indicated that the Omani Ministry of Foreign Affairs did not implement strategies utilized specifically for performing issues management via twitter. Twitter is rather utilized as secondary media tool only for disseminating news.
Moreover, the ministry did not exploit the capabilities and advantages of Twitter, in addition to the fact that the Sultanate of Oman did not abide by the principles of issues management communications in the pre-issue phase and implementation phase.
The results of the study also confirmed that the Omani Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Twitter adopted the same strategies used in traditional media, including the strategy of silence and no-reaction, principled strategy, and cooperation between dispute parties, which corresponds to the Sultanate’s goals, its external orientation, and its political principles. Finally, the overall assessment of strategic communication efficiency regarding the two issues under study is weak, which is incompatible with the use of new media as a tool of reform at all levels.

Keywords

The Egyptian Journal of Media Research
Volume 2022, Issue 80 - Serial Number 80
Second part - First Volume
July 2022
Pages 495-529

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