A Manifesto, in 140 Characters or Fewer: Social Media as a Tool of Rebel Diplomacy in the Libyan Civil War

Can rebel organizations in a civil conflict use social media to garner international support? We argue that the use of social media is a unique form of public diplomacy through which rebels project a favorable image to gain that support. We analyze the Libyan civil war, where rebels invested considerable resources in diplomatic efforts to gain the US support. Collecting original data, we find that rebel public diplomacy via Twitter increases cooperation toward the rebels when the rebels’ message clarifies the type of regime they intend to create and when it emphasizes the atrocities perpetrated by the government. Providing rebels with an important tool of image projection, social media can affect dynamics in an ever more connected international arena.