A lot of my life has featured public diplomacy, from growing up as a child of USIA/State diplomats to working for one of the international broadcasters. Currently, I’m on a journey around the world with my husband – we use our people-to-people interactions with locals on the ground to fulfill our role as “citizen diplomats” and technology to share the culture and people of the places we visit with readers “back home” through a website.

Having been involved in the world of web 2.0 and social media for a couple of years, I feel that some people/experts active in this field have forgotten the following:

“Anyone who thinks we can replace person-to-person engagement with social media – and still maintain the relationships public diplomacy depends upon – will be sorely disappointed. It is in support and along-side this in-person engagement that social media is most useful – not in lieu of it.”

I have to admit that occasionally I have fallen into the trap of thinking technology can replace human interaction, but it really can’t. Social media is a tool and I’m thankful for the connections it has provided and some of those have turned into face-to-face interactions. But the more we engage with people from all walks of life on our journey, the more we realize that nothing replaces person-to-person engagement.