If a picture is worth a thousand words, what kind of impact might a 3-minute online video have? With about 200 million videos viewed - and another 200,000 uploaded - each day on YouTube alone, online video is having a profound impact on our lives and cultures. While the sheer volume of online videos makes it difficult to sift through the clutter of goofy dances and TV show recaps, there are some clear ways that online video can be, and is, used to open doors between cultures as a tool of public diplomacy.

It’s no secret that humans are visual creatures. While talented writers can fill our heads with brilliant images from carefully-crafted text, it’s much easier in a world of fleeting online activity to get your point across in short bursts of images and sound. Here are just a few examples.

Bring real world public diplomacy online

By promoting and demonstrating the value of offline public diplomacy citizen and student exchanges, online video extends the reach of these programs to an online global audience of potential participants and supporters.

This 2-minute video about the 2007 Fusion Arts Exchange program at Northeastern University provides a clear understanding of the program and its benefits to participants.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MFmy1Eu4QFg

Similarly, North Carolina State University posted this 3-minute video summary of its U.S. Elections Program. Interviews with students from Brazil, along with local coordinators at the university, explain the purpose and demonstrate the value of the program.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i3i5v5V0tX8

Share your own story

The trademarked tag line for YouTube is “broadcast yourself.” With the accessibility of the tools needed to do this, individuals are able to document their personal experiences with other cultures and share it with online viewers. The result can be both enlightening and entertaining.

These two videos from Appalshop, a media arts center, were produced by participants of an exchange program that brought 13 Indonesians to the Applachian Mountains for a shared learning experience.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zpZYzq-J3v0

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CuBmdp0GLZE

In this video, German exchange student Hannah pays tribute to her host family with a little help from the family dog:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jt5QVMS1LfY

Capture authentic moments of international exchange

While produced videos are fun to watch, sometimes all that’s necessary is to be in the right place at the right time. True moments of international exchange and understanding are often unscripted and can have a lasting impact beyond the immediate moment.

This video of a Yemeni exchange student dancing with his American classmates in the hallway shows that public diplomacy can happen anywhere at any time.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B1uT24SRP7A