Comparing the effectiveness of official and personal accounts in Twiplomacy

With the spread of digitalization, diplomatic practices have moved to the digital environment and diplomacy has had to abandon its old patterns to a great extent. Digital diplomacy has also significantly reconfigured public diplomacy: digitisation now fuels the new public diplomacy that strives to maximise soft power, blurs the boundaries between national and global media, and places two-way communication at its centre. With the proliferation of new media, the most effective application area of digital public diplomacy has naturally been determined and a presence in these channels has become inevitable for actors seeking to cultivate digital soft power. Twitter (currently marketed as X) has consequently evolved beyond a mere social network into a new-media instrument that sets the agenda and shapes the trajectory of societal events. This influence has positioned Twitter as one of the premier venues for digital public diplomacy and has given rise to the notion of Twiplomacy. By means of Twiplomacy, state institutions and their representatives can engage in reciprocal communication with foreign publics, thereby contributing positively to the formation of soft power. This study aims to compare the effectiveness of institutional and individual actors engaged in Twiplomacy by analysing their interaction levels, which are regarded as essential components of two-way communication on Twitter. The interaction levels were analyzed with the data set collected from institutional and individual actors representing the foreign affairs of seven countries. The analysis demonstrates that individual accounts achieve higher engagement levels than their institutional counterparts, while institutional accounts exhibit a superior capacity to broadcast messages to broader audiences. These findings call into question the relative efficacy of individual versus institutional strategies in digital public diplomacy and furnish strategic recommendations for more effective Twiplomacy practices.