An Exploration of the significance of Social Media as a Source of Soft Power Communication used by the Dubai Government in displaying the City’s culture to the Rest of the World

An Exploration of the significance of Social Media as a Source of Soft Power Communication used by the Dubai Government in displaying the City’s culture to the Rest of the World

Introduction

Promotion of the unique features within a city with the aim of placing the city as one of the best around the globe have gained momentum in recent times. There are several strategies utilized by government organizations and the media industry in communicating the unique features of a nation, or a city to the rest of the world. Soft power communication is one of these communication strategies. It primarily utilizes persuasive operations in displaying the unique features of a city to the rest of the world (Saberi, Paris, and Marochi, 2018, p.45). Therefore, soft power communication is channelled to influence the cognitive abilities of an individual, specifically their executive function; hence, influence their judgment and social media plays a significant role in this mission.

Individual nations and governments use Social media is utilized in engaging influencers, creating events, and live interactions during these events, and engaging stakeholders in various fields and levels in formulating strategies and assessing the performance of various strategies (Peng and Keane, 2019, p.909). Similarly, social media is also an effective tool used during crisis management. All these tools and usage of social media helps in brand creation and selling of a city’s culture (Manor and Segev, 2015, p.111). Additionally, social media is largely used in building bridges between communities and in promoting a positive vision of the diverse cultures around the globe.  Several nations have registered success in the utilization of social media. Some of these include the U.S. and Sweden through its portrayal of the Nordic culture. These are some few examples of the significant role played by soft power communication strategies in displaying the unique culture within a city.

Dubai also forms one of the few cities in the GCC region that has successfully utilized social media as its soft power communication strategy. Through this, several events have been covered live by different social media platform and consequently dominated the headlines in these platforms. An example is the global conference for human fraternity which brought together two great world leaders; Pope Francis of the Catholic Church and the Grand Imam of Al Azhar. Similarly, a total of 180,000 people attended a papal mass led by Pope Francis. These two events recorded a total of 157,360 social media mentions( Ozer, 2017 p 1130. The study intends to explore the soft power communication strategies used by the government of Dubai to relay the unique characteristics of Dubai city to the rest of the world. Specifically, the study will concentrate on how they use social media in realizing this objective.

Research Aim

The emergence of social media as an effective communication tool has altered the landscape of different communications in the contemporary world. Dubai government has to ensure it incorporates every technological trend in its communication framework to ensure effectiveness. Therefore, the primary aim of this project is to determine the significance of social media in positioning Dubai as one of the best cities around the globe.

Research Objectives

The objectives of this research will include the following;

• To understand the role of Social media in implementing soft power strategy for Dubai
• To assess the problems and challenges involved in the use of social media as a soft power communication strategy
• To critically analyze the benefits of using soft power communication through social media.
• To explore the impact of social media in positioning Dubai as one of the best cities around the globe

Assessment Criteria

The primary assessment criteria that I will use to gauge whether the learning outcomes have been achieved will be the cognitive-based assessment. Thus, I will test my knowledge, in regards to, the different elements involved within the branding of cities and nations including cultural diversity and technological factors within the contemporary world. Effective application of these elements within this study will illustrate how much I shall have gained from my learning environment.

Rationale

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) is a relatively small nation in the Middle East region with around 86, 300 sq km (Ye and Björner, 2018, p.33). though the country has been in existence for just 49 years since its establishment in 1971; it is emerging as a regional and global power (Anholt, 2011, p.8). Its two cities; Abu Dhabi and Dubai have are among the few cities in the Middle East region with a significant command of global attention, especially Dubai (Zeineddine, 2017, p.589). Dubai has been identified to have a great command of tourism activities in the Middle East region as well as well-established businesses. These have been further enhanced by the government’s effort in relation to policies like low import duties and zero tax on corporate and personal tax, which has placed the country as one of the most attractive employment destinations around the globe (Subeh, 2017, p.46). Consequently, Dubai city enjoys a diverse range of culture and nationalism. This has been a significant development in the city as compared to other old cities in the Middle East like Jeddah in Saudi Arabia and Beirut in Lebanon (Soltani et al., 2018, p.159).

Similarly, the growth in terror-related activities around the globe is has been presented a challenge for the cities in the Middle East region (Coombe and Melki, 2012, p.83). A significant number of individuals around the globe closely relate these activities to the Islamic religion, a religion that is heavily practised in the Middle East region. However, the few individuals who manage to tour the Middle East region prefer Dubai than the other cities in the region, 49% of the tourists who visited the region in 2018 toured Dubai (Miftahuddin et al., 2019, p.5). Through all these, this study will primarily explore the significance of social media use by the Dubai government in branding the city.

Performing this research will shed light on the best strategies that the other cities within the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region can use to command global attention in regards to their culture. It will also help the Dubai government in discerning the necessary inputs needed to ensure the city maintains its good global positioning within the GCC region. As a doctorate student in media and communication, this project will inform my knowledge in regards to the reigning trends in social media and how to effectively apply it as a soft power communication strategy.

Additionally, this research outcome will be a guideline to the policymakers of UAE in relation to the external factors consisting of the foreign policy as well as authority in the international affairs and the position of the state in the global hierarchy as well as geopolitical status The process of civilization status has national culture across the country. The factors are important to be considered where it is required to develop the procedure of implementing the strategies. However, it is important to create an effective image that can influence the governance object. The most significant tool involved with the approach can determine the strategic goals of soft power as a motivation of the governance object and develops a political decision that has an impact on the process.

Literature Review

Zeineddine (2017 p, 591) conducted a study to explore the different strategies of soft power communication applied by the governments in Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. The study identified that Dubai has become the flagship brand of the UAE. Additionally, the study observed that the two countries have increased their branding to position themselves as some of the best investment destinations around the globe, diversifying their economies, which had largely depended on oil production. Similarly, Saberi, Paris and Marochi (2018 p 47), also noted that the UAE soft power communication strategies in national branding have been quite effective and has positioned Dubai city as one of the best places to live and work as well as get to know the region’s culture.

Peng and Keane (2019 p 906), identified soft power as the concept of how a nation exercises its powers beyond its borders. Compared to the military strength and size technique used in establishing an individual nation’s power around the globe, soft power has revolutionalized the perceived individual nation’s power through the consideration of its culture, technology, science and economic strength (Giannopoulos, Piha and Avlonitis, 2011, p.7). In all these, soft power utilize values that draw admiration, attraction, aspiration and emulation. Soft power communication can be generated and developed from the existing systems and infrastructure (Bolin and Ståhlberg, 2015 p 19)

Manor and Segev (2015 p 114) identified that the growing number of social media users around the globe makes it the best platform for displaying the unique cultures within a city. Individual nations utilizing it as a source of soft power communication strategy are always strategically positioned in this mission. Davis (2017, p.4), also observed some other importance of social media in portraying the unique features of a city. These include the promotion of positive perception of cultural diversity, building bridges between communities and promote social cohesion, as well as fostering the exchange of ideas among individuals from different cultures.

Additionally, social media also has the ability to impact individuals’ cognitive ability through the use of videos and pictures (Hao, Paul, Trott, Guo and Wu, 2019 p 5). These have been found to be more attractive and appealing to individuals, hence, are crucial in convincing them to subscribe to the general idea embedded in the information. There exist several social media platforms that are used specifically for this purpose; these include Facebook, Instagram, Snap chat, Twitter, and YouTube (Burchell et al., 2015, p.420). The primary skills needed for effective utilization of these social media tools in branding a city include communication skills and rational skills. While communication skills entail the command of improved language and grammar, rational skills entail the need to discern the specific attributes for the targeted population and channelling communication, in regards to, accommodate these distinct attributes within the group (Stokes and Price, 2017 p 161).

From all these, it is evident that there is inadequate research in relation to the use of soft power communication strategies by the government in Dubai city. This study looks to add more insight to the existing few works of literature on this. Similarly, though there are several studies conducted in regards to the importance of social media in the society, only a few of these have been channelled to address the use of social media in portraying the unique culture within a city. This study also looks to shade more light on the significance of social media among nations to positioning their cities around the globe economically and socially in regards to selling their culture.

Research Methodology

Research Strategy

The study will utilize an explorative approach in conducting its research. This will allow for improved analysis and understanding of social media as a soft power communication strategy used in branding Dubai city. Moreover, the study will utilize qualitative research methodology in drawing the existing relationship for the variables involved. Unlike the quantitative research technique that utilizes mathematical projections in analyzing data and drawing the nature of the relationship that exists between the variables involved, qualitative research utilize non-mathematical techniques in analyzing the available data (Manor and Segev, 2015, p.112). It is critical in this study since there is a need for close text analysis for the variables involved and deep exploration of how they relate to one another. The research will strictly be a mono method research.

At the same time, there are several academic disciplines involved in this research; these include management and leadership disciplines among others. The research will also utilize a multi-method in data collection. Through this, it will deploy both interview and observation as its primary data collection techniques. Triangulation of the results obtained from these two techniques will be essential in generating a comprehensive conclusion.

Research Design

Data collection tools

The research will apply both secondary sources of data and primary sources for information. Under the secondary bases of information, the study will utilize data from journals, blog posts, and magazines. At the same time, in regards to primary data collection, the study will utilize observation and interview.

Sampling technique

Purposive sampling technique will be used in selecting individual organizations to participate in the data collection procedure involving observation. Purposive sampling will ensure the study strictly engages the right respondents. These organizations will need to be government organizations within Dubai. The purposive sampling will be utilized in selecting individuals to participate in the interview process. These individuals will be the senior management team in the selected organizations.

Data collection process

Observation will involve gaining access to the different social media platforms used by these organizations and observe how they channel their videos to impact an individual’s judgment. These organizations include Dubai Tourism Authority, Dubai Culture Authority and Dubai Expo Authority.  The social media platforms to be accessed include Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.

The interview process will involve five top officials from each of these organizations who will be contacted to participate in the study. The selected participants will be contacted and the interview date scheduled within two weeks of their acknowledgement of the exercise. Digital recording devices will be used in recording the whole interview process to allow for analysis in future.

In relation to collecting data from the secondary sources, the study will retrieve these information through the use of online databases. The keywords that will be used in searching these information will be social media, Dubai city, soft power communication and social media and culture. The data collection process should last for one month.

The study will ensure all ethical standards are met. Through this, the study will request for permissions where necessary and ensure anonymity of the respondents if they do not feel safe or secure in revealing sensitive information. The research will also observe the informed consent principle, which will see the participants taken through nature and scope for the research before being engaged in the data collection process. Lastly, there is no conflict of interest within the study, but if they existed, they would have been stated.

Research Methodology Table

Project plan

References

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