How Leaders’ Tweets Affect Soft Power

• In Event: Public Diplomacy and Bureaucracy

Abstract

We propose to analyze the Twitter accounts of Barack Obama and Donald Trump, and assess and compare their respective impacts on U.S. soft power. State leaders’ Twitter accounts are often viewed as instruments of their states’ public diplomacy efforts. Public diplomacy, whether traditional or digital, aims to influence the ideas, desires, thoughts, and actions of foreign actors. A leading objective of public diplomacy is to enhance the state’s soft power -- defined as the state’s ability to inspire and attract, and therefore to get others to willingly follow their agenda. Our methodological approach to measuring the soft power-building or eroding attributes of each presidents’ Twitter posts involves both content analysis and quantitative analysis. The study employs a database of every foreign policy-related tweet made by Obama and Trump during an entire year. Each tweet will be subject to content analysis, as we examine the content, sentiment, and verbalism of tweets for their impact on U.S. soft power. We will then assign a soft power score for each tweet and an aggregate score for each president. Finally, the paper will offer a comparative analysis – in quantitative and qualitative terms – of the effect of the presidents’ tweets on U.S. soft power.

Authors

• Stephen D. Collins, Kennesaw State University

• Jeff R. DeWitt, Kennesaw State University