By Julian Dierkes

So, the PokemonGO craze is either still building (all towards the Canadian version becoming available) or cresting already (July 11).

So far, I have not been able to find any diplomatic or even political applications. But it won’t be long now…

Opportunities

Why would diplomats jump onto something like the PokemonGO-train?

Pop Culture!

Yes, obviously, and in a big way. A game that has surpassed Twitter users within days, clearly is a pop cultural phenomenon. In this case, it’s a phenomenon built on an earlier phenomenon (Game Boy, Nintendo), built on an earlier phenomenon (Pokemon cards), built around an entire universe of pop cultural production (movies, etc.) linked to a strong soft power brand (Japanese anime). It appears to be nearly global in popularity and is thus among a small list of references that might be meaningful to an entire generation across many parts of the world.

Gamefication?

It’s hard to think of gamefication possibilities in a very simple game structure, i.e. (mostly) cute creatures are out there, some of them are rare, “Gotta Catch’em All!”. But, it’s blending a game into reality, witness all the tweets about Pokemon as an exercise incentive.

We love that #PokemonGO encourages exercise! Remember: stay alert & safe. Can’t catch ’em all from a hospital bed. pic.twitter.com/Yu7Ugw80rw

— Sunnybrook Hospital (@Sunnybrook) July 11, 2016

What if there was something to collect other than Pokemon? Gamefied augmented reality seems like a possible opportunity for advocacy campaigns, though the risk of failure is also significant if an adaptation appears contrived or inauthentic.

Humour

As with so many news events at this point, the PokemonGO craze is generating endless parodies, photoshopping, GIFs, etc. on-line.

I even tried to take a crack at this myself.

@cdnfsproblems When 3rd Sec spots #Vulpix on Foreign Minister’s shoulder#PokemonGO pic.twitter.com/Il2BwnLMI8

— Direct Diplomacy (@DirectDiplo) July 12, 2016

When (diplomatic or policy) substance can be snuck into a humorous video or snap, that is a potential sweet spot where serious content can be communicated in a manner that engages audiences in issues that they might not otherwise care about.

Virality

Given the nature of a craze, a phenomenon like PokemonGO is generating A LOT of traffic in social media. That means a lot of sharing, re-tweeting, posting, creativity unleashed by the size of potential audiences, etc. That is also an opportunity for a clever digital diplomacy intervention.

Risks

So often, discussions at foreign ministries about a more engaged digital diplomacy, or even just a social media presence focus on the risks engagement poses.

Frivolity

What may appear as a humorous intervention to some (millennial) audiences, will look frivolous to other audiences. Those other audiences matter, sometimes even more than millennials.

It seems likely that in the coming days we will see a Vine, Snap or Instagram of a minister lunging for a corner of the room at a summit because a rare Pokemon has been spotted. One of those video will go viral and will make a diplomat look really hip. But, once a report of that hipness hits traditional media, a significant portion of the audience will think that it is disgraceful for a middle-aged politician to sprint through hallowed halls in the pursuit of a virtual mythical creature.

A related risk is that that video of a PokemonGo chase may be just that, a record of a game being played. Where’s the diplomacy in that? Isn’t that just a vain attempt at popularity?

Diversity of Audiences

But looking frivolous is only one of the risks associated with a diversity of potential audiences. Another may be that the Pokemon craze has always been gendered, it has been mostly boys who have been involved, though it is unclear whether disproportionately saw compared to broader gaming culture. Current tweets about PokemonGo also seem to include a large number of women who are catching Pokemon, but it’s very hard to judge how gendered the current craze is. We’ll have to wait for analyses by smarter and deeper students of the semiotics of pop culture and gaming to offer a perspective here.

Inauthenticity

Attempts to link to pop-cultural phenomena can always backfire when they are quickly identified as contrived and inauthentic. Remember Stephen Harper’s photo with Justin Bieber in overalls? ‘Nuff said.

Unpredictability

The very intensity of cultural production associated with a phenomenon implies that lots of creative minds are viewing posts and images associated with the craze and potentially putting their creative energy towards parody.

So?

The Pokemon Emerald City (Vancouver, right?) is a place where only the most daring of Digital Diplomats might go, but politicians are perhaps more likely to come running!