Analysis of the publications of the Instagram account of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation, from a gender perspective

Abstract

Introduction:This qualitative and quantitative study seeks to identify the actions carried out by the government of Spain to promote and promote gender equality in the country itself and around the world. Methodology:A content analysis of the publications found on the MAEC Instagram account is carried out, thus discovering the importance that Spanish institutions attach to this topic. To achieve this goal, the 861 Instagram posts published as of March 11, 2016, date from which the first publication appears, have been analyzed until today November 30, 2019. The central hypothesis is that two important events occurred in Spain in 2018: the 8M feminist strike and the motion of censure by former President Rajoy have favored that the government pay more attention to gender equality and, therefore, increase the number of publications regarding this theme. Discussion and results:around four axes (interaction and engagement, the themes, the representation of women in the Instagram account @exterior.maec and audiovisual content, hashtags and emojis). The level of interaction of the MAEC Instagram account is low (0.33%). The categories where a higher number of publications were found that include the gender issue include the use of inclusive language; The use of unique photographs is preferred, before carousels (24.66%) or videos (12%) and in the period and sample analyzed, it should be noted that in 74% of the audiovisual content related to gender equality found in the account From MAEC's Instagram it is possible to find a female presence. Conclusions:Although in the last couple of years a considerable increase in publications related to gender equality can be observed on the MAEC Instagram account, they are still few and mainly focus on celebrating or commemorating around key dates such as it is International Women's Day or International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women.