Social Media's Role in Socializing North Korea

Social media has been a major player in the "opening up" of the Middle East and other regions with oppressive governments.  Despite the ability of said governments to block their citizenry from utilizing social media, many people in these countries are finding creative ways to participate in the global social media frenzy.Actually, the same governments that are barring their subjects from social media usage are actually creating their own accounts on various social media websites.  For example, North Korea now has its own Twitter account.  This, of course, means that the leader of North Korea is on Twitter, though he won't give the outside world any clues about himself or his country: as of two days ago, "North Korea" still wasn't following anyone else on Twitter.

The U.S., apparently, is attempting to utilize Twitter to engage North Korea in diplomatic negotiations.  At least, State Department Spokesman P.J. Crowley is posting suggestive tweets, either to invite or incite North Korea into a discussion about foreigners crossing their borders.

This isolation-esque policy of North Korea seems almost futile, what with virtual technology these days.  Can't a user almost visit a place like North Korea or Cuba on a Smartphone app or using a Wii yet?  Either way, North Korea is probably virtually recreated somewhere on the World Wide Web, and those of us non-North Koreans could probably use any number of social media sites to "visit."  We may not even need to send in any more former US presidents to rescue our journalists anymore.

We might just be able to use Twitter.  Spokesman Crowley has taken North Korea's entrance into the social media and social networking world as a cue that the country is ready to talk.  The problem, not surprisingly, is that North Korea apparently had another agenda for joining sites like Twitter, Facebook and Youtube, namely to digitize and virtualize its propaganda war against the United States and South Korea.  According to a NY Times article posted on August 16, 2010, North Korea's Youtube account has been used to post sarcastic, stinging videos targeting leaders in the US and South Korea.

No one, reports the NY Times article, knows for sure who exactly is behind the Youtube account, nor the Twitter account that purports to be operated by the North Korean government.  And that, of course, is the exact problem with trying to use Twitter to engage in anything like peace or diplomacy debates.  The anonymity the Internet affords makes social media not the most innovative choice for public relations seeing as social media sites cannot guarantee that their users are who they say they are.  It may be appealing to use social media to try and engage your foe (it does, admittedly, reduce the risk of capture and incarceration) due to the anonymous nature of social media, but that same nature can also provide a safe (virtual) haven for the not-so-pleasant side of people.  So, if you're in the business of diplomacy, better to avoid heavy reliance on social media, and do the deeds actual face to actual face.