Optimizing communication activities to promote Vietnam's image through digital transformation
Việt Nam•19/10/2024
MSc. Nguyen Van Thuat, Deputy Director of the Department of Information and Communications, Ministry of Information and Communications
The world's media industry is in a period of explosive growth, with the emergence of a series of digital content platforms, cross-border social networks, multimedia integration, multi-services, and multi-applications. Therefore, in order to effectively promote Vietnam's image to the world, in line with current trends, the optimal solution is to digitally transform these activities in a practical and effective way.
Illustration photo.The need for digital transformation (DCT) in the communication work to promote Vietnam's image to the world is an area of special interest to our Party and State. In Resolution No. 47/NQ-CP dated April 15, 2024 of the Government on the Government's Action Program to 2030 to implement Conclusion No. 57-KL/TW dated June 15, 2023 of the Politburo on continuing to improve the quality and effectiveness of foreign information work (FIS) in the new situation, the Prime Minister assigned the Ministry of Information and Communications (MIC) to develop a "Project to develop a national foreign information portal/website to become a platform to promote the national image" . This is a very important task in the context of increasingly fierce information competition between countries and cross-border platforms, while the field of digital media and press digitalization in Vietnam is currently taking place slowly and still facing many difficulties and challenges. Basically, digital media, electronic newspapers, electronic information pages, and social networks (MXH) in Vietnam are still lagging behind developed countries in the world, with limited international coverage. Experience from the international The world is witnessing a leap forward in digital platforms, large online news websites with global influence such as: BBC (UK), CNN (USA), Naver (Korea) or cross-border social networking platforms providing digital content, online radio and television applications, short videos, e-commerce platforms such as Facebook, YouTube, TikTok, Podcast and virtual assistant platforms, AI applications producing derivative content such as ChatGPT, Bing, Gemini, etc. BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation) BBC was founded in 1992, however, it was not until 1997 that BBC Online was officially established and has now become one of the largest and most diverse news websites in the world in the UK, with more than one billion visits/month (according to Semrush). This huge amount of traffic demonstrates the global reach of the BBC and strengthens their position as one of the most visited news websites in the world. BBC's development strategy has many unique and different features, integrating many different media on the same platform, helping them build and maintain a leading position in the world's media industry. In terms of system organization: BBC has a large network with offices and reporters around the world, allowing them to update news quickly and multi-dimensionally in many different ways to reach the public globally. BBC World Service provides programs in many languages, increasing their international reach and presence . In terms of content: BBC provides very rich and diverse content, including: news, reports, videos, podcasts and many other contents such as: culture, entertainment arts, education, sports, travel, movies, TV shows, music, etc. One of the contents that BBC online focuses on is the communication activities to promote the image of the UK, using the BBC iPlayer tool to rebroadcast international radio and television programs. Channels such as BBC World News and BBC World Service broadcast news and programs promoting the image of the UK around the world, helping to raise awareness and understanding of the UK globally. Regarding technology, according to TVtechnology.com, the BBC's technology strategy focuses on technological cooperation, innovation and digital transformation, ensuring competitiveness and improving user experience, making it easy for audiences to access content anytime, anywhere, while ensuring efficiency in providing public services. CNN (Cable News Network) Founded in 1995, CNN has become one of the largest news agencies in the United States and around the world, with nearly 700 million visits/month. According to Similarweb, CNN has become the world's leading news platform thanks to a number of strategic secrets and important activities, including two key factors: Content uniqueness and technological innovation. In terms of content: CNN is the first television news network to provide 24/7 news (24 hours a day, 7 days a week), always responding quickly to breaking news events, ensuring that it is one of the first sources of information for the audience. Flexibility in the way they produce and distribute news helps them maintain high competitiveness, thereby attracting a large audience with a need for quick news updates. In terms of technology: CNN is also a pioneer in applying new technology, among the leading groups in integrating multiple platforms, including social networks, mobile applications and online radio and television to provide the best experience for users. Dynamic Web Technology is an important part of the modern website experience, allowing websites to interact and respond to user behaviors, creating a more intuitive, interesting and engaging experience. This technology includes effects and movements to make the website more vivid. Responsive Interface: Use a responsive interface to ensure that your website displays optimally on all types of devices, including desktops, mobile devices, tablets, etc. Optimize page load speed, ensuring that your website loads quickly and smoothly on all types of Internet connections. This is an important factor in improving user experience and increasing the chances of attracting and retaining users. Another solution is to use a content delivery network (CDN) to distribute content across a network of servers around the world, reducing latency and increasing page load speeds for users in remote locations. Data analytics and personalization are solutions to capture user needs, preferences, and behaviors, thereby providing personalized content, increasing engagement, and creating more enjoyable experiences for users. Naver (Korea) In Korea - a country with a very fast growth rate in the digital content sector with many news websites and digital platforms. One of the most well-known news platforms is Naver with about 500 million visits/month. Founded in 1999, Naver is not only one of the largest technology companies in Korea but also an important part of the country's online culture, providing a series of services and platforms for users to experience and utilize the Internet in a diverse and convenient way such as: News platform, search, entertainment, e-commerce or platform to promote Korean image and culture to the world, etc. Photo: Wired.Cross-border social networking platforms In the world, there are currently many cross-border social networking platforms with billions of users worldwide, led by: Facebook: nearly 2.5 billion users; YouTube, WhatsApp: about 2 billion users; Facebook Messenger: 1.3 billion users; Wechat: Nearly 1.2 billion users. Social networks have truly brought many opportunities for users to experience and do business, but also posed a series of challenges, especially for traditional newspapers. Information competition : Social networks provide a platform for all users to share their personal information, views and opinions. This creates a great competition for information, when users can easily access information from many different sources on social networks without having to depend on traditional newspapers. Changing newspaper reading habits : Users are increasingly switching to consuming news through social networks, instead of reading traditional newspapers, causing challenges for traditional newspapers in attracting and maintaining readership. Speed of dissemination: Social networks allow information to be spread very quickly and widely. The response time of social networks is often shorter than that of traditional newspapers, forcing newspapers to compete in terms of information speed. Hot topics and content trends : Social networks often create hot topics, create trends and sometimes put pressure on traditional newspapers to follow information trends, even before the information is verified, which can affect the accuracy and reliability of information posted in the press. Business and advertising model : Social networks provide a powerful advertising environment, causing businesses to tend to invest in advertising on social networks instead of traditional newspapers, adversely affecting the revenue of traditional newspapers. Facebook Facebook is the world's largest online social network with around 2.5 billion monthly users. Facebook allows users to create personal profiles, connect with friends and family, share content, photos and videos, join groups and events, and interact through posts and comments. The platform also offers advertising and business features, allowing businesses to advertise their products and services to Facebook users. Facebook also owns a number of other applications and services such as Instagram, WhatsApp, Messenger and Oculus VR, expanding its presence across many different areas of the Internet. However, Facebook has also encountered many problems related to personal data management, fake news and has faced many controversies and criticisms about the management and operation of the platform. Facebook provides tools and resources for small and medium-sized businesses to build and promote their brands. Features such as Business Pages, Facebook Marketplace and advertising tools help businesses reach potential customers effectively. With Facebook's superior features, many press agencies now also create fanpages on Facebook as an extension to spread information widely to the public. YouTube YouTube was founded in 2005 by three former PayPal employees, Steve Chen, Chad Hurley and Jawed Karim. A year later, in 2006, Google acquired it and developed it into the largest and most popular video sharing platform in the world, providing a variety of content, from entertainment, comedy, music, movies, to advice, education, news, and also providing live video broadcasting, allowing authors to interact directly with their audiences through livestreams. YouTube is multi-platform, including web browsers, mobile applications on both iOS and Android and other smart devices. Interestingly, YouTube has a simple and easy-to-use interface, allowing users to easily search, browse and interact with videos through comments, likes, dislikes and shares, creating a space for multi-dimensional communication and exchange of opinions. YouTube allows video creators to make money through the YouTube Partner Program (YPP), which allows them to earn money from advertising, membership privileges, and other forms of income. This is the attractive point, attracting authors to actively provide content for the platform. TikTok TikTok was founded in September 2016 in China, by ByteDance, with the original name Douyin. In 2017, ByteDance launched the international version called TikTok. After 6 years of establishment, TikTok quickly became popular globally, attracting billions of users and creating a vibrant community of digital content creators and platform users, especially after ByteDance acquired the Musical.ly application and merged it into TikTok in August 2018. TikTok is a social networking application that allows users to create and share short videos from 15 - 60 seconds, from entertaining, humorous, funny clips to political, educational and popular knowledge, communication content, etc. In addition, TikTok also provides a large music library with millions of songs and short sounds for users to use in their videos. Illustration photo. The platform's characteristics are highly interactive and powerful, and hashtags are also widely used to group content with the same theme together, making it easy for users to follow the flow of events. In addition, TikTok regularly appears with new trends, making this platform always attractive and vibrant. Like YouTube, TikTok opens up opportunities for video creators to make money through programs such as TikTok Creator Fund and other forms such as advertising and sponsorship, etc. Development trends in the world From the above analysis, we see that the development trends of digital media platforms have a clear divergence: Online news and press platforms such as BBC, CNN or Naver were often born around the mid-1990s, about 10 years before social networking platforms such as Facebook and YouTube, in the mid-2000s (TikTok alone is 20 years). This shows that modern media trends change every 10 years, always in line with the development trend of technology, applying new and smart technologies to optimize the experience, creating conditions for users to easily participate in the production and provision of digital content; creating opportunities and the ability to earn money for authors providing content to the platform, regardless of who they are, on which continent, whether professional or amateur, etc., can participate. Regarding content : The trend of developing content is increasingly short, fast, diverse, flexible, reliable and attractive. To ensure these requirements requires a combination of many different factors from content to technology and user accessibility. Flexibility, diversity, speed, and brevity in content will help attract and maintain the interest and participation of many different user groups. Using artificial intelligence (AI) with smart algorithms to optimize content on websites or applications, from optimizing keywords to creating attractive titles and quality content to enhance performance, information quality, improve position in search results, make trend predictions and analyze to shape communication strategies, advertising and content production based on understanding the needs, tastes, habits and behaviors of users. However, besides the great benefits that digital technology and AI bring, the trend of developing digital content based on AI is also considered a double-edged sword. Currently, there are trillions of information created every second on the Internet, causing overload, reducing the value of information, limiting the ability to receive knowledge, making the information environment unstable. AI algorithms can create deepfake content, undermine trust and raise concerns about bias, psychological manipulation or content limited by "filter bubbles"... Therefore, ensuring the reliability and accuracy of information sources and information security issues is very important. Regarding technology : Integrating multimedia, multi-application, multi-platform such as: news websites, mobile applications, messages, videos, podcasts, social networks and other media; using advanced technology, artificial intelligence, machine learning and data analysis will help optimize user experience and provide personalized content to create a smart, flexible and effective media environment. Ensuring security and privacy for users is very important, requiring close coordination between technical measures, policies and education, along with commitments from both users and service providers to ensure the safety and privacy of personal data. Provide security measures such as data encryption, access control and monitoring of data access activities to prevent unauthorized access to users' personal information, while ensuring that the system and network infrastructure are protected from cyber attacks and information security risks. Regarding resources : Strengthen the mobilization of social resources, develop cooperation models between public agencies and organizations with private units and enterprises in developing and managing digital media platforms. The combination of resources and knowledge from both sides can help strengthen the strength and competitiveness of the platform. Promote cooperation in developing digital content, private organizations as content production units, providing content to public media agencies according to the requirements on principles, purposes and content quality set by the ordering agencies. In addition, it is necessary to promote advertising and sponsorship activities to ensure operating funding sources; Cooperate in researching and developing new technologies and solutions in the field of digital media. Lessons for Vietnam Assessing the formation process and development trends of major news platforms and social networks in the world, we see that the media sector is always closely linked, inseparable from the development trend of digital technology, in which there are two most important components, which are digital platforms and digital content (digital data). Digital platforms must be developed on the basis of applying smart technology, AI and big data. Big data is formed from many different sources, including large sources from users, allowing users to participate in production, providing digital content or using AI to collect, analyze data and create derivative content, etc. In short, digital transformation is an inevitable trend of modern media in the world with the overarching task of creating a comprehensive digital ecosystem, focusing on digital platforms and digital content (digital data). Therefore, in order to optimize communication activities to promote Vietnam's image to the world, there is no other way than for Vietnam to focus on developing digital media platforms and databases about Vietnam from now on to ensure that official information sources about Vietnam to the world are always comprehensive, accurate, safe and easily accessible to the public around the world. References 1. https://bbc.com 2. https://tvtechnology.com 3. https://similarweb.com 4. https://cnn.com 5. https://naver.com 6. https://facebook.com 7. https://youtube.com 8. https://twitter.com 9. https://vnexpress.net 10. Report at AMRI Conference 16 11. Conclusion No. 57-KL/TW dated June 15, 2023 of the Politburo on continuing to improve the quality and effectiveness of information technology work in the new situation 12. Resolution No. 47/NQ-CP of the Government on the Government's action program until 2030 to implement Conclusion No. 57-KL/TW of the Politburo./.
.jpg)
Comment (0)