Information networks and social media use in public diplomacy: a comparative analysis of South Korea and Japan

This article examines how South Korean and Japanese public diplomacy organizations employ digital media to embrace the principle of ‘networked public diplomacy’ through analyses of the web and social media practices. A network analysis was used to map interorganizational information networks among core public diplomacy organizations in each country. To reveal the key organizations' communication strategies on Facebook, a content analysis was also conducted. The findings indicate that Japan had a strong internal network infrastructure achieved through dispersed connections and partnerships; however, Korea had a centralized network, including a limited number of dominant actors. The results of content analysis suggest that both South Korea and Japanese public diplomats focused on promoting their cultural products and national values through their use of texts and visual images. In addition, user profile analysis gaged the degree of users' engagement in the organizations' profiles and identified the demographic features of users. Comparative data suggest the Korean public diplomacy organization was more successful at attracting and engaging with foreign public than the Japanese public diplomacy organization. These results imply that although these two countries had similar sociopolitical backgrounds and perspectives of public diplomacy, they had distinct forms of internal information networks, communication strategies, and social networking performances with public.     

基于社会网络分析的移动环境下网络舆情信息传播研究——以新浪微博"雾霾"话题为例

[目的/意义]研究移动互联网络环境下舆情信息传播路径和传播规律,为相关部门加强社会舆情信息监管提供参考.[方法/过程] 在理论研究层面,基于社会网络分析法,从点度中心性、中间中心性和接近中心性3个属性出发,对移动端和非移动端雾霾网络舆情信息传播进行对比分析;在应用研究层面,以新浪微博中雾霾话题信息为例,采用Java编程方式接入新浪网API开放平台获取新浪微博数据,使用Gephi软件及数理统计分析工具绘制有关图表.[结果/结论]揭示了移动环境下网络舆情信息传播特点,验证了社会网络分析法在移动环境下网络舆情信息传播研究中的有效性,并为移动环境下网络舆情信息传播的研究提供了新的研究视角,为实践层面移动环境下网络舆情信息监管提供了分析工具.