It is clear that the imprint of Brexit is on the minds of UK social network users; thus, the word Brexit is used in the two posts with the most reactions. For example, of the 20 comments that were documented as part of the sample, 12 use the word Brexit.

In terms of the groups to whom the press release is aimed, if we consider the data for 2017 (Statista; 2018b), among the group of people between 16 and 24 years of age, 95% use social networks. For the group between 25 and 34 years of age, 96% use social networks, and for the group between 34 and 44 years of age, the figure is 86%. For people between 45 and 54 years of age the figure is 75%, and for those who are 55 to 64 years old, 60% use social networks; the information above demonstrates that the target audience is an economically active population at the age when people generally participate in politics. In terms of gender, Facebook has a majority of female users (84%) compared to male users (73%), and Twitter has practically the same percentage of female users (48%) as male users (47%). It can therefore be said that the post is directed at both of these populations without distinction of gender. Regarding the effects it caused, it can be said that in the case of the first post regarding the Summit with the EU and Balkan leaders, of 90 reactions (following the established sample), 85% (77 responses) were negative and 15% (13 responses) were positive: The subject is quite delicate when it comes to the relationship between the United Kingdom and other European leaders within the framework of Brexit, and another subject that was noted as recurrent, although not as much as Brexit, was the problem of migration. It is evident that users who leave comments or react to the topic have the impression that the social network gives them a voice and that their opinion is important. With regard to the second post of her meeting with Theresa May, it is interesting to note how network users compare her to Angela Merkel, and how they demand the same leadership that they claim the German Chancellor has in Europe; somehow it highlights the resentment for the supremacy of the United Kingdom; in this case, there are also some reactions that are mostly negative and that repeat almost the same pattern as the first post. Of a sample of 90 reactions, 90% (81 reactions) were negative and 9% (9 reactions) were positive. It is important to focus on Theresa May’s concern about the effect of social networks on politicians, saying that these are becoming spaces for intimidation and abuse of public figures; this shows, in some way, that she does not feel comfortable with them and that she does not seem to have a clear strategy for their use and exploitation. Here it is worth noting that in Britain, “public diplomacy is a way of communicating with people in a very connected and digitized world. And while it is probably one of the most efficient forms of communication between governments and people, it is also one of the most difficult practices to carry out” (Raskovick, 2018: 63).

4. Conclusions

This study provides findings that allow us to define suitable approaches to address citizen participation in international policy issues within the framework of digital public diplomacy, and specifically of social networks. It has been clearly demonstrated that the global citizen accesses, utilizes and makes use of the interaction, communication and content creation resources offered by the Internet in order to interact with those responsible for state diplomacy; on the other hand, the latter in turn consider it important to communicate with their audiences and engage them on these issues.

In the case of the United States, the way in which its president has been using social networks, especially Twitter, in matters of international politics demonstrates the great value that the president places on this tool as a means of direct communication