EU diplomacy 2.0: The European Union’s exercise in soft power in the Philippines through Facebook

Digital diplomacy, also referred to as e-Diplomacy or Diplomacy 2.0, is a form of public diplomacy that entails the pursuance of foreign policy objectives using the Internet and social media. It is one of the ways that actors in contemporary global politics can exert soft power, thereby shaping a host country’s perceptions, agendas, and policies. The increasing use of digital diplomacy exemplifies a shift in diplomatic from purely government-to-government (G2G) relations, to one in which communication is directed towards publics (G2P), and can even encourage citizens to interact with one another (P2P). One actor that has become increasingly active in this area is the European Union (EU). However, unlike a country, the regional bloc is a coalition of twenty-eight member states. Consequently, the challenge for EU digital diplomacy specialists is to represent a group of countries to local audiences. There is minimal literature on this subject, and this paper hopes to contribute to it by presenting a case study of the EU’s digital diplomacy initiatives towards Philippines, which are communicated through the popular social networking website, Facebook. This paper argues that the EU exercises its soft power through its social media transmissions it creates. The individuals featured in its online content, the way that the European Union represents itself, and the issues it highlights in its posts are all geared towards shaping the perceptions of Philippine audiences.

Os profissionais de relações públicas e comunicação: competências para a diversidade

In the past two decades, discussions on diversity have broadened. In the Brazilian context, especially in the private sector, the importance of this agenda is noticeable. For instance, the Brazilian newspaper “Folha de São Paulo” addressed the theme on the article “Diversity is the champion: What the World Cup and profitable companies can teach about inclusion” (FSP. July 23, 2018). In this article, Liliane Rocha, who is the founder and CEO of Kairós Management – Sustainability and Diversity Consultancy, explains that discussions about diversity within organizations started from the idea of sustainability, which became even broader when understood not only from an environmental basis, but also from a social impact perspective. In February 2019, the social networking website Facebook launched the Ads 4 Equality tool. By using algorithms, the advertising campaigns of agencies and advertisers are analyzed as to the representativeness of their characters in relation to the Brazilian population in terms of sex, race and body type (Coletiva.Net, 2019). The examples previously mentioned, in addition to the diversity initiatives in organizations, reveal that some reflections on the relationship with such diverse social groups are necessary. By doing so, it is believed that organizations can achieve their goals and contribute to the development of their social environment. Therefore, it is necessary to know to what extent the knowledge, skills and attitudes (Fleury & Fleury, 2001; Durand, 1998; Fawkes et al. 2018) of professionals in the communication market contribute to the practice of diversity in organizations (Fleury, 2000; Serrano, 2007; Thomas, 1999). With this in mind, we have developed an exploratory research based on a structured questionnaire with 33 questions. This tool was applied via Google forms to a non-probabilistic sample by accessibility (Weber & Persigo, 2017).). We obtained 191 participants and, based on the results, it was found that the majority reaffirm the importance of the theme, however only a few have actually worked on it. With regard to the effective development of diversity, knowledge on the issues of gender, race and accessibility, for example, was the least mentioned by these professionals as being necessary for communication activities, such as planning and mapping audiences, which are essential for any communicative structure. There is also evidence that the organizations involved in the research are not yet in the diversity management stage (Serrano, 2007). In theory, this situation would explain why certain competences, such as knowing how to learn and knowing how to engage to have a strategic vision (Fleury & Fleury, 2001), did not seem to be properly mobilized by the interviewed professionals. One of the most mentioned competences was precisely the mapping of audiences, whereas the others, related to individual diversity (race, religion, gender, and so on), were not recognized as those used by professionals on a daily basis. This perspective can help us somehow explain why diversity is still often practiced at the discursive (image gain) and utilitarian (profitability) levels. As a result, this study reveals a path to be followed by these professionals with a view to a more inclusive society.

Introduction

The Introduction begins with a brief contextualisation of the significance of the topic of the book, and how recent cultural events (such as the social networking website Facebook introducing dozens of additional options for individuals’ gender identities aside from ‘male’ and ‘female’ in 2014) justifies exploration and recognition.

Born to be beautiful: Season of birth influences adult females’ physical attractiveness

Birth month in humans is associated with certain biological variables such as reproduc-tive success, health and mortality rate. At the same time, physical attractiveness is regarded as one of the reliable markers of human health and genetic quality, which suggests that female attractiveness may vary according to their season of birth. To test this hypothe-sis, ratings of females’ photographs from a popular Polish social networking website were analyzed. The sample included 5294 females aged 21-23 years. Results demonstrated that females born in spring (May) were rated as being significantly more attractive than those born in autumn (September and November).

Using Facebook and Its Relationship with the Psychological Resilience of a Sample of Orphaned Teenagers

This study describes a new idea for the relationship between orphaned adolescents using the social networking website Facebook and its relationship to psychological resilience. The study also compares orphaned adolescents, male and female, in their use of Facebook and their degree of psychological resilience. It also identifies the rate of use of orphaned adolescents (male and female) for Facebook. One hundred orphaned adolescents were used as samples in this study. The results indicated a statistically positive correlation between the use of the social networking website Facebook by orphaned adolescents and their psychological resilience. It also showed statistically significant differences between the average specimens of the study sample of male and female orphaned adolescents on the questionnaire using Facebook in the direction of males, and statistically significant differences between the averages of the study sample scores of male and female adolescents on the psychological resilience scale of adolescents in the male direction.

Case translation: Bulgaria

Decision No 50, Haskovo District Court, Civil Division, II appellate civil panel, 20 January 2018 Bulgaria; Civil Procedure Code; formation of contract; electronic evidence; exchanges via social networking website; proof