This article presents a study of Twitter-based communication in order to identify key influencers and to assess the role of their communication in shaping country images. The analysis is based on a 2-month dataset comprised of all tweets including hashtags of the three countries selected for this study: Austria, Switzerland, and the Netherlands. Following a two-step flow model of communication, we initially identified the influential Twitter users in all three countries based on their centrality measures. Subsequently, we carried out a qualitative content analysis of tweets posted by these influential users. Finally, we assessed the similarities and differences across the three country cases. This article offers new insights into public diplomacy 2.0 activities by discussing influence within the context of country images and demonstrating how opinion leaders can play a more dominant role than states or other political actors in creating and disseminating content related to country image. The findings also provide practical insights in the production of a country’s image and its representation on new media platforms.

本文对基于Twitter的交流进行了研究，以识别关键影响者并评估其交流在塑造国家形象方面的作用。该分析基于一个为期2个月的数据集，该数据集包含所有推文，包括为此研究选择的三个国家（奥地利，瑞士和荷兰）的主题标签。遵循两步交流流程模型，我们首先根据其中心性指标确定了所有三个国家中有影响力的Twitter用户。随后，我们对这些有影响力的用户发布的推文进行了定性内容分析。最后，我们评估了这三个国家案例之间的异同。本文提供了对公共外交2的新见解。通过讨论在国家形象的背景下的影响力，并展示意见领袖如何在创建和传播与国家形象有关的内容方面比国家或其他政治角色发挥更大的主导作用，开展0活动。这些发现还提供了一个国家形象的产生及其在新媒体平台上的代表性的实用见解。