Social Media as A Challenge to Traditional Indian Diplomacy A Medium of Communication or A Mode of Diplomacy?

Abstract

Diplomacy has witnessed several ontological and methodological alterations with the emergence of technological revolution, thus marking the advent of social media. This paper traces the vicissitudes brought in by social media, especially Twitter on the diplomatic plane. It examines these modifications at two levels: structural and individual, using the case of Indian diplomacy. At the structural level, it discusses the transition in the mode of communication; emergence of multiple actors and the transformation of diplomatic approach. At the individual level, it focuses on the shift in the role of political leaders, such as the Indian Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, in diplomatic affairs. Furthermore, it addresses the overarching debate of digital diplomacy being a division of diplomacy or social media being a medium of communication of the traditional Indian diplomacy. Against the popular belief, this paper asserts that although social media is an influential communicative tool affecting Indian diplomatic dynamics profoundly, it is not a separate mode of diplomacy altogether.