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Justice Simango
As of April, 2014, a study of diplomacy with the social networks showed how heads of states and government use twitter to keep diplomatic relationships with other presidents and political actors. Today, the use of Twitter is on the rise as a useful element of digital diplomacy also known as eDiplomacy.

An estimated 241 million active users have joined twitter and world leaders have since taken advantage of the rapid expansion of twiplomacy to reach out to a worldwide audience. In total, there are close to 500 twitter handles used by world leaders and their foreign ministers.

Since the use of the internet is expanding into every aspect of people’s lives, internet etiquette also known as “netiquette” has been violated by its users, and etiquette specialists across the globe continue to voice against bad network habits.

The points frequently emphasised when discussing poor netiquette often include, using simple electronic signatures, cross posting, multi-posting, off topic posting, hijacking a discussion thread, foul language among others.

The twitter statistics for Zimbabwe show that, Mufti Ismail Menk has the largest audience of 3 638 164 followers, followed by Danai Gurira who has 668 292 twitter followers.

Professor Jonathan Moyo and Bishop Tudor Bismack are placed three and four respectively as the fastest growing profiles on twitter from Zimbabwe. In other parts of the world, United States Ambassador to Russia, Michael McFaul has been attributed as a pioneer of International Twitter diplomacy.

He used twitter after becoming ambassador in 2011, posting in English and Russia. The former United States president, Barack Obama is credited for being the first head of state to create a twitter account.

Back-home, it is election season and almost all the political parties and their candidates are making use of twiplomacy as a means to communicate their manifestos to the electorate.

The current popular harsh tag dominating local tweets is the hashtag EDHasMyVote. To me, there is absolutely nothing wrong to use twitter and other social media platforms as a campaign tool to reach out to a large audience, but remember, whatever we do and post online, reflects who we are offline!

If you are unsure of anything you’ve typed, hold it in draft mode and read it later before releasing the email or post. Doing otherwise could jeopardise your opportunities and tarnish your image or worse, your current job.

It is quite unfortunate that, many professionals are using twitter as a battlefield to exchange harsh words and to let the public know that there is a dispute. Back in the day, conflicts among politicians, misunderstandings between captains in the private sector and all litigation processes reached the public through print media and electronic media.

Today, through the touch of the ‘send’ button, the world is constantly up to date with real time events as they unfold. I see nothing wrong again with these developments, but I see everything wrong with the manner in which these updates are posted and commented by users. A few of my followers are probably thinking about their ‘freedom of expression’, well you are right, you may express all you want but don’t forget all the impressions you will give to your future employer, contractor, customer or even your future voter.

Cyber bullying has led to disaster, broken diplomatic ties and relationships, controversial tweets and retweets have also exposed classified information.

People should learn the diplomatic and courteous guidelines of using twitter as it appears to be the emerging hashtag of our time.

As communication on the Internet explodes, so does the use of acronyms. Take time and learn what they mean so you won’t misunderstand messages and comments. Some of the most common acronyms include: BTW — By the way, TTYL — Talk to you later, LOL — Laughing out loud, ROTFL — Rolling on the floor laughing, POV — Point of view, B/C — Because, AYOR — At your own risk, B4N — Bye for now, DH — Dear husband, DF — Dear friend, OIC — Oh I see, TYVM — Thank you very much, EOM —End of message, C&P — Copy and paste.

Keep your messages and posts brief, because most diplomats use the internet to save time, so honour that and keep all messages as brief as possible. If you have more to say, try breaking it up into smaller topics. This will force you to be more organised and enable the reader to digest the information in a more orderly manner.

Avoid using all caps in any email or post. Some people think that keeping the caps lock button on for the entire message will make it easier to read, but it actually does the opposite. It is not only difficult to read, it comes across as shouting, which is rude.

One rule of thumb many people use is to never post anything you wouldn’t want your parents or boss to see. I am certain that, this is why Danai Gurira is the only leading female twitter user from Zimbabwe, she practises good twiplomacy manners and observes post discretion parameters despite the fact that she is a Zimbabwean-American actress and playwright.

Since anything you post on the Internet is out there for all to see, avoid adding anything personal. This includes your address, phone number, social security number, and driver’s licence information. You don’t want to make things easy for identity thieves, burglars, and predators.

The next time you log on your twitter account or decide to create a twitter account, follow the twiplomacy guidelines, they will help you protect your brand and reputation.

Feel free to follow me on my twitter handle; @stajice1