Digital Diplomacy, Zing and the US Embassy
Posted: October 30, 2012 Filed under: Blogs and Bloggers, Britain, change, media, News, Reflections, Social Media | Tags: australian embassy, british embassy, digital diplomacy, facebook, Hanoi, piracy, social media, twitter, us embassy, vietnam, zing 8 Comments »
I thought this was a cracking spot of a story, though I found myself in the unfamiliar position of feeling sorry for the US Embassy in Vietnam.
In short Zing has recently been caught in something of a “digital piracy” storm as a result of dodgy unlicensed file sharing. Then it emerged that the US Embassy was still using the platform as a result of what they claim to be a lack of online options for “public discourse”.
Why do I feel sorry for them? Well firstly I can see how this happened and I’m not entirely buying the line that there were few other options, though I’m sure that would have contributed. I have seen the stats and for much of the last few years Zing has been ahead.
Frankly back when I worked with the British Council there were two reasons why we didn’t set up a Zing account. The first was it was seen as something a little bit younger than our target market – younger than Facebook which, theoretically, you aren’t supposed to join till you are 16. Secondly the foreigners, due to the language issue didn’t get it and as a result there wasn’t a united push from locals and internationals to use the platform.
No one ever raised the issue of copyright, though I did know it was a music sharing site. I suspect local staff wouldn’t see it as abuse and foreigners, not being users, wouldn’t grasp the wider culture.
A quick look at the US Embassy website and there are links to a dozen different sites including Flickr, YouTube, Facebook and Zing, though no Twitter. I understand that Twitter usage is generally low in Vietnam though it remains a great way for sharing content. It’s networking, it’s not marketing. The British Embassy in Vietnam likewise still doesn’t use Twitter despite a very obvious foreign office love for the platform. (I’ve actually set up an unofficial one in their continued absence - channeling the various outputs over Twitter).
As I write it remains to be seen whether the US Embassy will continue with Zing but perhaps even more interesting will be how continued Facebook issues alter social media plans. In particular future problems may be less about local blocks and more about policy changes from Facebook themselves back in the States. Actually reaching your following without further investment is becoming harder than ever. Perhaps that’s why the Australian Embassy has gone the paid-for route as they look for friends (see below). Presumably once they have friends they’ll then have to invest further in ensuring all of them receive updates – such are the changes.
Interestingly I had cause to email the Australian Embassy recently and despite hunting across their website I couldn’t find an email address. I presume that while the culture is to open channels in social media other routes to assistance are being nailed shut in the interests of keeping inboxes empty. It seems a slightly odd approach.
In terms of making the best use of social media I’ve always maintained it’s more about content not platforms. With Zing’s reputation in tatters, Facebook blocks and operational changes I’m more sure of that than ever.
In which case it’s also worth noticing that neither the American Ambassador nor the Australian Ambassador blogs. Meanwhile the British Ambassador (as I type) hasn’t updated his since the end of June.
Hmm I’m not sure I’m that bothered about non-blogging ambassadors, there should be dedicated online PR/press staff doing that sort of thing, rather than getting highly paid civil servants wasting their time showing off their Vietnamese language skills.
Valid point that I wouldn’t necessarily agree with. Blogs rarely work if left to a third party or committee as they read just like another press release. That said any of the hassle should be taken out of it from posting to translating etc. For me an ambassador is just that – you can’t be a low profile ambassador or what’s the point? If you are, then you might as well be replaced by cheaper admin staff. But, if you’re writing it and no one is reading it then you’re getting it wrong.
What does tend to happen is that comms departments open up all these different social media platforms because it is the thing to do. Then they use cut and paste the same old dreary releases to them. That fashion of having “meet the ambassador” YouTube clips are all very well but you’ve got to work pretty hard to entertain if it’s just another old white guy in a grey suit – even if they are attempting the language.
In the end though Ambassadors need to make themselves available. They need to communicate. I think blogging is a good way to do that – then again it’s not nearly as important as just have an email address that people can use to have their queries dealt with – something that isn’t always available now. Two contradictory sets of advice, the first all about cuts and streamlining work and keeping inboxes to a minimum, the second is about embracing new technology. They don’t always tally.
Hi Steve, I wasn’t suggesting a one-size fits all approach to all forms of media, but frankly they’re civil servants and aren’t really in a position to say anything particularly interesting anyway (well outside of the policies of their respective government’s position, to be more accurate). The last British ambassador used the blog to massage his ego in my opinion rather than offering useful information for the British community in the country or in particularly pushing British-Vietnamese diplomatic dialogue. Myself and several other British ex-pats had to resort to spamming his blog which was primarily being used a chat forum between him and Vietnamese students to ask a question about voter registration procedures for the British general election, annoying but it did at least mean we got phone calls trying to deal with the problem. I’m not aware of any cultural organisation (Goethe, La Space etc) or embassy in Vietnam that seems to have embraced effective online communication methods. I’d be curious if you had a pointers to success stories in the field?
I got to know the last ambassador because I wrote something about the Embassy on my blog and he actually commented and then invited me in for a chat. Doesn’t matter in the end whether it’s a comment box, returning an email, taking a phone call or just having all the info to hand – it’s all comms. Like you said no one-size-fits all.
The British Embassy has a shocking reputation for not responding. I was just talking to someone today who was setting up a charity event and had enjoyed responses from every Embassy except the British one. I hear it time and time again and it’s getting worse. The channels are being closed to us. When charges are increased we’re told “if you want an Embassy you have to pay” but we’re not getting anything.
Their key work is always going to be small groups of Vietnamese and diplomatic staff sitting in private rooms but surely they also have a duty to serve and respond to expats. In that respect any way of reaching them and any effort they make to reach us helps.
Don’t get me started on the British Council :p
Ha..i’ll say this – I’ve never worked with a harder working team. Very different, increasingly commercial, remit.
shame this story wasn’t posted on Facebook, would have been easier for a more rapid conversation. But I don’t hold anything against the staff at the Council, think it’s what you say, its due to an increased commercial remit, but also it seems a confused line when it comes to promoting the country, thought both the British film week and the stuff around the Queen’s Birthday were a bit staid and overly-traditional, what about the UK’s role as a creative industry leader or it’s massively influential modern music scene? These are what makes the UK relevant and contemporary, rather than heritage promotion, but of course that’s a different discussion.
I’d tend to agree with you (though the Queen’s Birthday thing is all Embassy and budgets have seen it repeatedly shrunk). It’s down to budgets I guess and also BC isn’t a booking agent so those with big audiences can play anywhere in the world and couldn’t care less about BC or probably smaller audiences in less key countries for them. Likewise BC tend to go for artists who’ll do more than just play so they also do workshops etc. I guess it’s like anything else – some artists are plugged into how it all works, others don’t need it and others don’t know about it. Re the film stuff – yes, definitely, I guess it’s just a very low priority. The arts stuff doesn’t seem especially joined up – handing a DVD over to a local arts centre of a popular flick does not a festival make.
I’m not sure it’s a case that people think this is the way to do things – so much as there’s probably not much room to do anything else. It’s about what makes money. Not so much for Britain, as others orgs cover that, but what makes money for BC so it continues to be self perpetuating.
In the meantime the English class side of things is doubling which tells its own story.