New Zealand's Digital Diplomacy as a Small State - Narratives and X handle identification

Widespread societal adoption of social media technology, occurring due to the advent of mass internet access, has led to many nation-states using social media for diplomatic purposes, a practice commonly termed ‘digital diplomacy’. However, case studies of small states have been notably scarce in research into state digital diplomacy practice, despite digital diplomacy’s utility for small states as a low-cost foreign policy tool. This research examines the case study of New Zealand. Using inductive analysis, X posts from the accounts of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MFAT) and New Zealand’s Permanent Mission to the United Nations are discussed to explore how New Zealand’s contemporary digital diplomacy practice aligns with New Zealand’s foreign policy strategy as a small state. In sum, this demonstrates how digital diplomacy has been used by New Zealand to portray the nation as a moral and positive actor – furthering a nation brand developed by NZ Story – and more generally support existing foreign policy. This dataset includes documented narratives from New Zealand X posts, as well as a description of the identity of X handles identified in this research from the period October 23rd - October 28th, 2024 (as account handles can change).