Abstract
This study examines the use of memes as part of China’s digital diplomacy between
2019 and 2022. Few studies have investigated the use of memes to advance state
interests in relation to China’s public diplomacy. In this context, the main objective of
this study is to provide a preliminary but comprehensive analysis of the content,
objectives, and novel practice of using memes to communicate China’s foreign policy
goals on Twitter. To achieve this, we conduct multiple analyses through a combination
of computational techniques and manual coding. The dataset comprises 725,000 tweets from 68 Chinese diplomats’ accounts and 13 state media accounts. Drawing on a theoretical framework regarding the use of humour in international relations, our
findings reveal that Chinese diplomats’ use of images in their tweets resulted in
significantly more retweets, and tweets featuring playful memes achieved a high degree of virality. These memes employed sarcasm to amplify ideological contention and, in doing so, challenged traditional diplomatic decorum.
2019 and 2022. Few studies have investigated the use of memes to advance state
interests in relation to China’s public diplomacy. In this context, the main objective of
this study is to provide a preliminary but comprehensive analysis of the content,
objectives, and novel practice of using memes to communicate China’s foreign policy
goals on Twitter. To achieve this, we conduct multiple analyses through a combination
of computational techniques and manual coding. The dataset comprises 725,000 tweets from 68 Chinese diplomats’ accounts and 13 state media accounts. Drawing on a theoretical framework regarding the use of humour in international relations, our
findings reveal that Chinese diplomats’ use of images in their tweets resulted in
significantly more retweets, and tweets featuring playful memes achieved a high degree of virality. These memes employed sarcasm to amplify ideological contention and, in doing so, challenged traditional diplomatic decorum.
| Originalsprog | Engelsk |
|---|---|
| Tidsskrift | Global Media and Communication |
| Vol/bind | 21 |
| Nummer | 1 |
| Sider (fra-til) | 9–30 |
| Antal sider | 22 |
| ISSN | 1742-7665 |
| DOI | |
| Status | Udgivet - apr. 2025 |