State Department Abandons Cold War Mindset!

I was greatly relieved to learn the U.S. Department of State is recalibrating its public diplomacy efforts toward social media and finally abandoning its Cold War mindset. As part of these efforts, America.gov, an ambitious public diplomacy portal launched during the Bush years, has been shut down. According to The Hill:

A message on the front page of America.gov informs visitors that, as of March 31, the site is not being updated and will be archived. A notice directs visitors seeking information on U.S. foreign policy to the U.S. embassy and consulate websites or to State.gov.

The manpower once devoted to the site, provided through the State Department’s Bureau of International Information Programs (IIP), is being redirected toward the department’s “social media assets,” which use Twitter, Facebook and YouTube. IIP Deputy Assistant Secretary Duncan MacInnes called it a shift to a “more proactive” Web engagement strategy.

Although MacInnes said the department’s official site of record, State.gov, would still serve as a resource, a “static website” like America.gov is no longer the best way to promote understanding of policy.

America.gov didn’t even make sense when it was launched on Jan. 15, 2008. It belonged in the enduringly stable propaganda environment of the Cold War when the United States needed to shine a bright light of free-flowing information into tyrannical and closed societies. The United States’ main adversary, al-Qaeda, has been thriving in the Information Age’s environment of free and open global information flows (e.g., satellite television, Internet, and mobile) outside of state control for more than a decade.

Simply put, you would use a state communications channel to offset propaganda from a state communications channel, networks to fight networks, and free-flowing ideas to counter balance free-flowing ideas. Thankfully, the role of social media in empowering Revolution 2.0 “validated” State’s shift in strategy, following a major review that took place from September to January of this year. According to The Hill:

“It was a moment of revelation for many people,” [MacInness] said. “The government is not particularly entrepreneurial as an organization, generally, but we need to be because things change every year, every six months. We will continually look for new ways to get things out.”

With State tumbling at StateDept.tumblr.com on April 4, just a few weeks after Tumblr was added to Apps.gov, it’s clear this new entrepreneurial attitude is getting things done as well. It will be fascinating to watch how these efforts progress!

Do you think America.gov was a good model on launch? Please feel free to challenge my analysis in the comments section.

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