56 | 28, pp. 55-77 | doxa.comunicación

January-June of 2019

The use of Social Networks as a means of citizen participation in validating positions and interests...

ISSN: 1696-019X / e-ISSN: 2386-3978

1. Introduction

Internet can be defined in many ways. It can be seen from a technological point of view, or as the connection between computers by means of a network, and it can also be seen as a new means of communication; or it can be seen as a space where diverse types of relations are created, (Forte, et al, 2012). All of the meanings mentioned are valid. For this study, Internet is considered as a medium that promotes citizen participation in issues of political interest such as those related to international politics. Since its birth in the late 1960s and early 1970s, the Internet has evolved from being a network that connects computers to a network of people that facilitates virtual spaces for interaction. Technological limitations have been overcome and access has expanded, broadband services have grown, the use of mobile and smart phones has spread massively, and there has been technological convergence (Internet, television and fixed telephony). The preceding “makes it mandatory to expand and renew the initial definitions of access and citizen participation –within an analogic media context– in order to update their operability in the process of digitization of diverse signals” (Linares, 2016: 39). Citizen participation through the use of Internet leads to the main topic of participation by citizens in issues of national-international-worldwide interest that have traditionally been carried out through diplomatic relations. In order to create a framework of the concept of citizen participation on the Internet, the vision of Pineda (2010) is acknowledged. It refers to the communication that Internet facilitates, understood as follows: “dialogue, as a space for negotiation and symbolic mediation of parties...which expresses in itself the essence of a democratic climate that makes tolerance, opinion and agreement possible, but also dissent” (Pineda, 2010): 32-33). In addition to information and communication technologies, “this role has broadened and multiplied due to the fact that through the network of Internet it is possible to establish more dynamic, bilateral alternatives for information, communication and political participation” (Pineda, 2010: 36). This has meant the emergence of a plurality of power sources with regard to political action directed at public issues”.

It is important to review Internet access data, and it is increasingly easy to connect. Moreover, mobile phones or smart devices facilitate interaction. For the last decade, there has been sustained growth in the availability of communications, especially thanks to mobile cellular telephony, mobile broadband, and the development of fixed broadband infrastructure, which has boosted the access and use of Internet (International Telecommunications Union (ITU), 2017a). In January 2016, there were 4.2 billion users worldwide (Statista, 2016: 1). See Figure 1 regarding the distribution of Internet users.

public users– citizens. We can speak of the phenomenon of the global citizen (Martínez, 2004). For their part, decision makers/government leaders have an active role in social networks and seek to communicate and validate their actions, almost from the moment they make or announce their decisions, in order to know the reactions of citizens. States make use of social networks in the context of what is defined as digital public diplomacy.

Keywords:

Digital public diplomacy; global citizen; Internet.

ticipativo, por parte del público usuario -la ciudadanía, puede ha-blarse del fenómeno del ciudadano global (Martínez, 2004). Por su parte, los decisores-gobernantes, tienen un rol activo en redes socia-les y buscan comunicar y validar sus acciones, casi desde el mismo momento en que se toman o se anuncia la decisión como forma de conocer las reacciones de los ciudadanos. Los Estados hacen uso de las redes sociales en el contexto de lo que se define como diplomacia pública digital.

Palabras clave:

Internet, diplomacia pública digital, ciudadano global