This chapter focuses on individual, citizen diplomats that reached a global level of notoriety and explores their representational work in order to identify pathways to diplomatic power. We applied Sharp's taxonomy of citizen diplomats (2001), adapting traditional models of soft power and public diplomacy (Nye, 2011) and employing a multiple case design focusing on descriptive case studies (Yin, 2018). We therefore selected global citizens who reflect the challenges and trends of contemporary citizen diplomacy (Cooper, 2007, p. 126): a sense of purpose, an ability to interact with high-level state officials and a global reach. By building specific case studies drawn from diplomatic actions of highly visible individuals, our focus was to explore the conversion process of soft power as a possible pathway to diplomatic power in terms of policy making rather than awareness, a dimension often associated with the soft power of citizens.

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PurposeThe current study aims to map the existent modes of engagement used by both individual and organisational actors of Romanian diaspora community in the UK to build public legitimacy and social value in the host society. This study focuses on two main questions: (1) What are the forms of engagement by which diaspora members enact their role as diplomats for ethnic diaspora communities? (2) What is the nature of their communication practices that sustain these forms of diasporic engagement?Design/methodology/approachThis study is based on an analysis of online public documents extracted from different websites, blogs and public social media accounts, complemented by primary data. The research design is a multi-levelled case study.FindingsThe main findings are that Romanian diaspora in the UK develops a specific model of diplomacy, focused on cultural and political forms of engagement. Firstly, equality and belonging are two key dimensions that clearly define this diasporic community diplomatic actions and practices. Secondly, the communication that fosters its networked and associative features has shifted towards a more democratic and strategic model.Originality/valueThis paper has multiple original points. Firstly, it deepens the understanding of diaspora diplomacy, connecting the concept with strategic communication. Secondly, the identification and theorisation of specific forms of engagement of diasporic communities reflects a process which is yet underdeveloped in both types of literature. Findings may be instrumental in providing strategies for relationship building, cultivation and the engagement efforts of the UK institutions regarding immigrant integration.

The present study explores the nature and dynamics of online communities populated by communication freelancers. Drawing from limited scholarship focusing on freelance work practices in communication industries and a reduced number of studies in communication literature regarding online communities, this research applies a complex analytical framework, with mixed methodology: content analysis, social network analysis and thematic analysis. Our main findings reveal the key features of the discursive environment of two Facebook groups, the communication functions employed by group administrators, the engagement practices of group members particularly regarding knowledge production and consumption and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on group practices and dynamic. We conclude by highlighting the supportive and participative culture developed within the two groups.

Abstract:Starting from the ostentatious presence of the SMS for teenagers, I attempted to identify the values of its appropriation process and to outline the trajectory of SMS within teenage culture. My argument is that the SMS develops two interpenetrating usage trajectories: an individual and a collective line, the later bearing a marked cultural logic. The relation between the object of consumption and the individual is framed by specific values of usage and regulated by cultural practices. In this article, I will present the factors that regulate the individual usage of the SMS, incorporating this form of communication in teens' universe. Through ethnographic fieldwork in Romania, I have carried out participant observation and interviews in places that are frequented by teenagers and I have collected and analyzed more than 300 text messages, written by teenagers in daily personal journals of communication.