Mass cultural communication. The case of the Cervantes Institute and its digital diplomacy through Twitter

Abstract

The Cervantes Institute and its branches abroad have become a powerful tool of cultural diplomacy and representation of Brand Spain across the world. Founded in ‘90s, the institution has developed many online communication platforms, making it the most forward-looking and far-reaching institution in its field. The aim of this study is to analyse how the Cervantes Institute communicates through its network of Twitter accounts during a determined period. To this end, two studies were conducted: a quantitative analysis of the tweets (n = 13.913) from the institution’s accounts (during the period 01/01/2017 - 06/31/2017) and an analysis of the content of the tweets (during the month of September 2017) (n = 3.014). We concluded that the use of Twitter as a communication tool by the Cervantes Institute is a reality. Its 48 accounts, with more than 330,000 followers, not only reach people where they are physically located, but also anywhere worldwide. The tweets it disseminates are eminently educational and cultural, showing that, thanks to social media, interesting digital diplomacy actions are undertaken at the service of Spanish public diplomacy.