An Examination of Factors Influencing National Reputation of India Among South Asians on Social Media

Authors

  • Nisha Garud-Patkar San Jose State University

Keywords:

online social relations, online engagement, diplomacy, information use, structural equation modeling

Abstract

Social media play a central role in governments’ communication with foreign citizens, but little is done to understand how such platforms build national reputation. To fill this research gap, the study examines online engagement, online social relations, and information use that predict national reputation in the social media context. National reputation is examined through a survey of 387 South Asian social media followers of the Indian government. Results show that online engagement of users with the Indian government and their information use related to India are positively associated with national reputation. However, users’ online social relations with Indians is negatively associated with national reputation. The study provides empirical support to understand how public diplomacy operates in an online-only context and in the case of India specifically.

Author Biography

Nisha Garud-Patkar, San Jose State University

Dr. Nisha Garud-Patkar is an assistant professor at the School of Journalism and Mass Communication at San Jose State University in California. Her research interests include the examination of interactions on digital and social media, including public diplomacy and international communication between governments and citizens. Her research also focuses on media coverage of conflicts and terrorism. She is also interested in studying how new media technologies influence online journalism.Her research has won multiple top paper awards at national and international conferences, such as AEJMC, NCA and ICA. Dr. Garud-Patkar’s research has been published in several top refereed journals such as Newspaper Research Journal, Journal of Magazine and New Media, South Asian Popular Culture, among others. 

Downloads

Published

2021-05-29

Issue

Section

Articles