En narrativ analys av den offentliga diplomatiska strategin: Sveriges strategiska politiska kommunikation i sociala medier

Sammanfattning

The field of public diplomacy has become increasingly dependent on the general digitalization in society, and its use of social media platforms as a mean to spread their political message to the general public. Digitalization has made public diplomacy more attainable for the masses, but it has also given states a larger responsibility in which messages they want to convey to the public. This thesis investigates how the Swedish Ministry of Foreign Affairs (shortened SweMFA) utilizes strategic communication across their social media platforms in order to realize their political visions by how they present their image to the general public. The method used in this study is narrative analysis, and is conducted by examining the narrative presented across SweMFA:s three different digital platforms: Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. The result of the study shows that SweMFA at large uses similar tactics of strategic political communication across their different social media platforms. The study also shows that there is a well-defined narrative surrounding Swedish foreign policy. The study concludes that SweMFA uses some strategic communication within their digital diplomacy, by utilizing the affordances provided by different digital platforms. They do however seem reluctant to fully adapt their messaging to the different audiences across their social media channels, and to fully make use of strategic communication in doing so.