Description
This study uses Twitter Application Programming Interface (Twitter API) to explore the rhetorical processes underpinning condolences, as expressed by the Saudi Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Starting with the Charlie Hebdo shooting in January 2015, this study looks comparatively at several acts of terrorism in order to answer whether these different attacks elicited different responses. Furthermore, this study examines the role of social media in public diplomacy, and in the production and distribution of political discourse, as it relates to statements of condolences and expressions of solidarity mediated through Twitter. This paper argues that condolences themselves can be understood as rhetoric, serving political and diplomatic functions rather than being an expression of actual, sincere solidarity. Furthermore, tweets from official government sources can be seen as a performance of public diplomacy, and as performative of the official’s own position. Lastly, this paper argues that offering condolences is a way to purchase “humanitarian capital,” which is becoming increasingly important in global politics and international relations.
