Part 7 — What are the digital trends for politics and diplomacy?
Focus on digital and tech at the White House and the Italian Embassy, and a look at 2025 trends with Ryan Heath and Rina Shah.
💬 Quick CONVERSATION STARTERS:
Why will digital continue to matter in 2025?
As we approach the end of another year, it's time to take a look at what comes next. This is why, since we launched Content Is Not King here on Substack a couple of months ago, our goal as always been building conversations with those who are leading the conversations around the intersection of digital, tech, politics, and diplomacy.
Before we dig deep into Part 6 of our series on digital trends for politics and diplomacy, this past week, the conversation around tech and social media intensified in Washington DC, with an event at the Italian Embassy on “Influence and (dis)information: the role of social media, algorithms, and content creators in elections and political campaigns,” and a very special National Digital Roundtable event at the White House to close 2024.
The Italian Embassy celebrated the 12th anniversary of its Digital Diplomacy Series with a panel with Washington political insider and veteran Steve Clemons; digital rockstar
, author of here on Substack; Council on Foreign Relations fellow and founder , author of ; The Atlantic executive editor Adrienne LaFrance; content creator and influencer ; and opinion writer and LUISS Data Lab director Gianni Riotta.
Later in the week, the National Digital Roundtable and its chairman and founder
partnered with the White House’s Office of Digital Strategy to close a very success year of digital-centered roundtables. It was wonderful to share great insights with inspiring leaders like Christian Tom, Tericka Lambert, Patrick Stevenson, Evan Romero, and the entire team at the White House.Our takeaways:
the importance of recognizing when to pivot as quickly as possible, even taking risks, and learning from mistakes
creators are great messengers, but not every creator fits all your messaging
treat creators like opinion writers
trust the process and be passionate
“It was a masterclass in digital strategy from an innovative and energetic team,” Anthony pointed out. Here’s his quick recap on the topics discussed:
Why The White House joined Reddit - and did so two weeks sooner than planned
What strategies work to engage Creators / Influencers
How a team of 23 people works together to produce content rapidly - with necessary approvals - to reach millions upon millions of people
Which technology platforms the team relies on and has recently gotten approval to use
Who gets to show content to the President
What’s in Part 7?
For this Part 7, focused on legacy media, social media, AI, and power in the digital age with Ryan Heath at Robin AI and political strategist and commentator Rina Shah — thank you both for your analysis and predictions!
Don’t miss Part 1 and Part 2 and Part 3 and Part 4 and Part 5 and Part 6, with insights from Matthias Lüfkens, Ashwath Narayanan at Social Currant, Aleksandra Kuzmanovic at the World Health Organization (WHO), Bhumika Regmi at Malala Fund, Aubrey Ottenstein at Hilltop, Valentina Tonutti of Fuori dal PED, Dan Morrison, Patricia Gruver-Barr, Dante Licona, Erika Marzano at DW, Marco Ricorda, Stéphanie Fillion, Roxy Ndebumadu, Gerry Diaz Bartolome, Anja Gabriel, and Alessandro Tommasi.
Stay tuned for more in the coming weeks!
Ryan Heath: “The crap content might be winning, but legacy media contribute to that trend through their inflexibility”
* Ryan Heath is a member of the leadership team at Robin AI, which provides Legal AI for businesses. Ryan is a former European Union technology spokesperson and presidential speechwriter in Brussels. He served as Axios’ Global Technology Correspondent, and between 2015 and 2023 wrote POLITICO’s Brussels Playbook, Global Playbook and Davos Playbook newsletters.
1) Where do you stand in the debate regarding legacy media v the role of social media and content creators?
Most legacy media moves very slowly, and while I appreciate its quality and rigor — it’s often not finding ways to give people what they want, so they go and get it from other content creators who don’t have the same dedication to facts and research. The crap content might be winning, but legacy media contribute to that trend through their inflexibility.
2) How can communicators and journalists better leverage artificial intelligence and generative AI? What are some of the untapped opportunities out there?
Generative AI is a thought partner. It does not replace research and interviews, but it can help with both. It can help anyone think quicker and in new ways. Nothing else can suggest the outlines of a speech or presentation or blog post in 10 seconds.
3) What are your predictions for technology and digital next year and beyond?
The big trend will be towards more specialist AI tools. ChatGPT seems impressive, but what does it really do to improve your life? You need tools aimed at solving a specific problem to give you that real return. Some of them may be built on top of, or by fine-tuning one the biggest AI models, but the big models on their own aren’t what most companies need, for example.
Rina Shah: “The co-existence of journalists and creators democratizes information and that’s a very good thing in general. But, their co-existence is complicated in an already creative new media landscape.”
* is a geopolitical expert who appears multiple times weekly on the world’s top television networks such as the BBC and CNN for her commentary and analysis on a wide range of issues. Her work has been featured on the front pages of global publications ranging from The Washington Post to Süddeutsche Zeitung. Rina was Chief Spokesperson and a top advisor for two U.S. presidential campaigns and senior aide to two members of Congress who is now a sought-after political strategist, accomplished businesswoman, and mother of three young children. Her Substack will launch in early 2025 [watch this space!], for now you can find her on X, YouTube, and Instagram: @RinainDC
1) What is your take on the current debate about the role of creators v journalists?
As someone who isn’t a member of mainstream media but continues to work tangentially to it, I’ve seen the growing tension between political creators and journalists covering politics/government. But, this was the first presidential election cycle in which friction between the two was highly visible to others “beyond the Beltway.” Both camps want to teach us and are almost forced to operate in digital spaces with a common aim to grow similar audiences. I actually don’t think this is a bad thing. It signals the average American consumer wants alternatives to traditional messengers and methods of how they learn things, and that’s ultimately indicative of a free-thinking society. Gatekeeping is clearly out and unfiltered content is clearly in. Because of this trend, journalists who don’t adopt some form of creator-like tactics are at a disadvantage and particularly so in the fast-moving world of politics.
Trust and integrity are always going to be key when we talk about how both groups are viewed by the public--not just in relation to the content they put out but also in relation to how they behave as messengers. And, that’s where things get tricky. Why? Because in this dynamic new media landscape, there are frequent floods of misinformation and disinformation as well as a growing emphasis on feelings not facts.
Messengers capable of breaking down big, complex issues like the ones debated daily in Washington, DC daily will always be in demand, but what the American electorate overwhelmingly seems to also want from them is a dose of entertainment, inspiration, and/or motivation to take some form of action. At the end of the day, the co-existence of journalists and creators democratizes information and that’s a very good thing in general. But, their co-existence is complicated in an already creative new media landscape. So, the burden shifts to the audience members; it’s up to us to raise our media literacy--learn how to navigate and spot the difference between balanced, informed journalism and more subjective, opinion-driven content that has wide appeal and influence but might not abide by any ethical standards.
2) What is power in the digital age? And what role do Big tech companies in shaping power in today's world?
The way I’ve come to understand power in the digital age is through recognizing how it’s become less about brute force or territorial control and more about: who controls the flow of information, who owns critical infrastructure, and who can leverage technology and data to best influence others. What many of us working with governments have seen happen over the past two decades is a fundamental rethink of soft power largely due to more accessible technology; it’s altered the traditional dynamics between corporations, governments, and citizens. The people who have the most power in this era [and are getting more of it!] are doing so from: being data dominant, forming technological monopolies, and spurring any digital innovation (right now, that’s especially true when it comes to infrastructure).
Big tech companies have shown themselves to be the most valuable players in this new power dynamic. For example, technologies like ChatGPT and rapid popularization of generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) has contributed to power being concentrated in the hands of big tech. That concentration of power is why Big Tech is now in the driver’s seat on reshaping attitudes about authority, economic influence, and geopolitical power. Just look at how the decisions of tech CEOs now carry a great deal of weight in international affairs--that blurs the lines between corporate power and state authority in a way we’ve never experienced before. As the digital landscape continues to evolve, the interplay between tech giants, governments, and citizens is going to be absolutely vital to how global power structures exist and operate.
3) If you look at the tech and digital space, what are your predictions for politics and diplomacy in 2025 and beyond?
As we approach 2025 and beyond, the tech and digital space is set to reshape politics and diplomacy in an unprecedented way. There will be important milestones in this upcoming year, including the conclusion of UN cybersecurity negotiations and decisions on the future of global internet governance processes. Due to that, I believe we’ll see many countries start to put more emphasis on training diplomats to bridge technological and traditional diplomacy and even take steps like appointing tech ambassadors, like Denmark led the way in doing back in 2017.
One of my greatest concerns is how the concept of state power is fast being redefined as governments everywhere grapple with challenges of maintaining their authority in our increasingly digitized world--one in which corporations currently wield the greatest influence. Power in the digital realm also creates unforeseen challenges to equity, democracy, privacy, and security. One area I’m beginning to focus more on professionally is cybersecurity. Cyber warfare and political hacking—such as alleged interference in elections through social media manipulation or hacking—are serious threats to America’s national security. My prediction is that discussions on digital diplomacy will increase ten-fold later in the new year as more nation-states engage further in it through using social media, hacking, or propaganda to influence foreign policy and shape international opinion.
In 2025, I’m certain digital technologies will become deeply embedded in politics, government, and diplomacy--perhaps even somewhat in part due to global figures like Elon Musk who’s seen to have an ahistorical and most formative role advising the next occupant of The White House. On the one hand, that’s a positive development because of the unique opportunities for innovation and global cooperation that can subsequently arise; however, these kinds of developments will also raise bigger issues about governance, security, and inequality that the international community will have no choice but to address.