On Saturday, October 8, 2016, Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi attended a bloggers and social media activists meeting (known as “kopi darat”) at the 2016 Kompasianival event. The presence of Foreign Minister Retno at this event was interesting because this is the first time a senior Indonesian diplomat has spoken about the use of social media in diplomacy.
In her keynote speech Foreign Minister Retno said “Diplomats now live in an era of real time diplomacy. A diplomat must be responsive and able to interact in social media. Interaction in social media is important because it can be done at any time without boundaries with a very diverse substance.”
From Foreign Minister Retno’s statement, it appears that since the beginning of her leadership in the Foreign Ministry, the Foreign Minister has given priority to the use of social media to support diplomatic activities. The Foreign Minister realized that the use of technology and digital tools has changed the practices of diplomacy. New non-state actors are emerging enough rapidly, reshaping the international landscape and forcing foreign policy practitioners to rebalance their focus to accommodate new priorities, engage with civil society, and open the process.
