Agency (philosophy)

Literature

Philosophy

Sociology

Psychology

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Digital media

Political science

China

Narrative

Government (linguistics)

Sympathy

Context (archaeology)

Public diplomacy

Nation branding

Media studies

Social science

Public relations

Linguistics

Social media

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Asian Journal of Communication

Applying a constructive journalistic paradigm, we examined how the Chinese media digitalized panda diplomacy on Twitter. By analyzing English-language, panda-themed tweets (N = 855) posted by Chinese state-owned media (Xinhua News Agency, People’s Daily, and CGTN) in 2017, we identified content types and communication engagement practices that contributed to Chinese digital diplomacy. Our findings confirm that the practice of panda engagement online is highly politicized in the context of China’s public diplomacy. Chinese media outlets use Twitter (a) to spread official discourse and views in the diplomatic arena to strengthen the government’s impact and (b) to accrue sympathy capital and increase attractiveness through strategic placement of imagery (e.g. static images, moving gifs, and video clips) and textual narrative.

‘Panda engagement’ in China’s digital public diplomacy