Social Media and Public Diplomacy: How Nigerian Embassies Use Digital Platforms to Shape National Image

This study investigates the use of social media platforms by Nigerian diplomatic missions as instruments of public diplomacy, assessing how official digital communication strategies contribute to or detract from Nigeria's national image abroad. In an era of accelerating digital communication, public diplomacy has shifted significantly from traditional broadcast media to interactive online platforms such as X (formerly Twitter), Instagram, and Facebook. Nigerian embassies in London, Washington, and Pretoria are selected as case studies, given the strategic importance of their host countries to Nigeria's diplomatic interests. Drawing on public diplomacy theory and digital communication frameworks, this research analyses the content, tone, frequency, and audience engagement of official social media outputs from these missions between 2021 and 2024. A mixed-methods approach is adopted, combining quantitative content analysis of social media posts with qualitative interviews with communications officers at selected missions. The study also draws on audience reception data where publicly available. It is anticipated that findings will reveal inconsistent use of digital platforms, limited strategic coherence across missions, and significant variance in audience engagement levels. The research contributes to the growing literature on digital diplomacy and offers recommendations for developing a unified Nigerian public diplomacy digital strategy. Keywords: public diplomacy, social media, digital diplomacy, Nigeria, national image.