Some foreign diplomatic missions to Romania have been using Facebook in recent years to have their messages reach the local public.

The most recent example is the Russian Embassy’s Facebook message related to its contribution to the Wisdom of the Earth fundraising campaign in Romania, which stirred a lot of controversy.

Most foreign embassies that are active on Facebook usually communicate about their ambassadors’ activity in Romania, post photos and information about events they organize, and promote their countries’ values, traditions, and tourist attractions.

The number of fans that the embassies’ Facebook pages have in Romania reflects the quality of their social media communication, as well as the Romanians’ sympathy for some countries. It is also an indicator of how active the expat communities of different nationalities are in Romania.

So, which are the most popular embassies on Facebook?

The U.S. Embassy in Bucharest is by far the most popular diplomatic mission in Romania, considering the number of fans on their Facebook page, of close to 80,000. This reflects both the Romanian’s perception that the U.S. is Romania’s most important international ally as well as the embassy’s active social media strategy. The U.S. Embassy's fans are also the most active in terms of likes, shares, and comments to the posts on this page.

The U.S. Embassy has two times more Facebook fans than Romania’s Government (34,500) and almost three times as many as the Romanian Parliament (27,000). However, this is also because most Romanian high officials prefer to communicate on their personal Facebook pages rather than on the institutional ones.

The second most popular foreign embassy in Romania by number of Facebook fans is the Embassy of Israel, whose page has over 15,000 likes. The Embassy of France is third with over 14,000 fans.

Romania’s international economic relations seem to matter less for local Facebook users. It seems that embassies are not judged on the size of their countries’ investments in Romania. If it were so, then Austria’s Embassy should be among the most popular. However, the Austrian Embassy only has about 1,200 fans, ten times fewer than the Embassy of Sweden (12,000). Sweden isn’t one of the top 10 foreign investors in Romania, but its embassy has an active social media approach, ranking fourth by number of fans.

The German Embassy is fifth, with over 11,000 fans. The British Embassy comes next, with over 8,000 fans, followed by the Embassy of Netherlands (6,680 fans).

The Polish Embassy is the most popular diplomatic mission of a country in Romania’s region, with over 6,200 fans on its Facebook page. The Czech Embassy comes next, with more than 5,100 fans.

The Russian Embassy to Bucharest has 3,000 fans. It has gained over 200 fans in just two days after its post related to the Brancusi campaign.

editor@romania-insider.com