OBSERVARE

Universidade Autónoma de Lisboa

e-ISSN: 1647-7251

Vol. 7, Nº. 2 (November 2016-April 2017), pp. 104-120

LUSOPHONE INTERFACES: THE LUSOPHONE NETWORK ON FACEBOOK

Inês Amaral

inesamaral@gmail.com

Assistant Professor of the Autonomous University of Lisbon (Portugal), where she is a

Coordinator. She holds a degree in Communication Sciences and a Master’s in Applied

Communication Undergraduate Programme. Professor at Superior Miguel Torga Institute, vice-

president of the Scientific Council and Scientific Coordinator of the Multimedia graduate

programme and post-graduate course in Audiovisual and Multimedia. PhD in Communication

Sciences. She teaches Digital Communication. She has developed research on sociability in digital

social networks, digital literacy, active and aging technology, as well as media consumption in

the digital age. She has participated in international research projects such as EMEDUS and

various actions of COST. She is a member of IAMCR, ECREA, INSNA and SOPCOM. She is also a

co-founder of the Portuguese Association of Training and Distance Learning.

Silvino Lopes Évora

silvevora@hotmail.com

Assistant Professor at the University of Cape Verde (Cape Verde), Coordinator of the

undergraduate Journalism programme. PhD in Communication Sciences and Sociology of

Communication and Information from the University of Minho, associated with this title is

European Doctorate. He is president of MEDIACOM - Cape Verdean Association of Communication

Sciences. He has investigated media concentration, freedom of the press, as well as Lusophones

and political communication. He won the Grande Prémio Cidade Velha with the doctoral thesis

(Ministry of Culture of Cape Verde) and the Orlando Pantera Awards with An Essay on Liberty in

West Africa. The Competition Office for Social Communication approved the publication of his

Master's thesis in a book and The WAF Editora contest approved the publication of a book of

poems. Fellow of the Foundation for Science and Technology (PhD), Calouste Gulbenkian

Foundation (Master’s) and the Cape Verde government (undergraduate degree).

Abstract

This article examines the new digital landscape postulated in the network society theory

advocated by Castells (2000), as well as a contextual framework. Assuming the virtual exists

and produces effects (Lévy, 2001), we consider that we are witnessing a change of paradigm

in social communication. If from a Communication point of view we are facing

individualisation, the social paradigm shift is evident. The new perspective inculcated by digital

tools is the socialisation and the maximisation of the collective.

In this article, we assume that the relational ties in asymmetric social networks (which do not

involve reciprocity between nodes) that take place in social media platforms is content. In this

sense, and taking a multidisciplinary perspective, we consider that the technique of

appropriation shows a mapping of structures that are technically mediated interactions and

enhanced by technology. We present an empirical study based on the method of triangulation,

crossing document analysis with netnography. Analysing groups and Facebook pages as

supports, where communication is recontextualised through disaggregated distribution and

different types of interaction, we aim to categorise and understand the social representations

of the Lusophone. The main objective of this paper is to examine whether Facebook, as an

area of digitally mediated interactions and disaggregate content sharing, can induce a

reconstruction of the significance of social networks and representations of the Lusophone,

promoting the creation of a single social group, or at least a grouping with some homogeneity.

Keywords

Lusophone, cyberspace, social networks, social representations, social interaction

How to cite this article

Amaral, Inês; Évora, Silvino Lopes (2016). "Lusophone interfaces: the lusophone network on

Facebook". JANUS.NET e-journal of International Relations, Vol. 7, Nº. 2, November 2016-

April 2017. Consulted [online] on the date of last consultation,

observare.autonoma.pt/janus.net/en_vol7_n2_art7 (http://hdl.handle.net/11144/2786)

Article received on December 18, 2015 and accepted for publication on June 15, 2016

JANUS.NET, e-journal of International Relations

e-ISSN: 1647-7251

Vol. 7, Nº. 2 (November 2016-April 2017), pp. 104-120

Lusophone interfaces: the lusophone network on Facebook

Inês Amaral, Silvino Lopes Évora

105

LUSOPHONE INTERFACES: THE LUSOPHONE NETWORK ON FACEBOOK

Inês Amaral

Silvino Lopes Évora

For an introduction: narratives of Lusophone and identities

Understanding the Lusophone as a fragmented space full of multiple meanings, it is clear

that its discourses, practices and social relations circulate in different conceptual logics.

In this sense, we interpret the Lusophone as being built through a shared social

construction with elements of communication systems that enhance networks of meaning

within its very own subjectivity, which is dependent on a multiplicity of culture meanings.

Notwithstanding, political discourse, like the media, hides asymmetries and presents a

homogeneous perspective of Lusophones as a single unity.

As written by Eduardo Lourenço,

"the Lusosphere is no kingdom, nor even folkloric. It is only – and it

is not little, nor simple - that sphere of communication and

understanding determined by the use of the Portuguese language

with a genealogy that distinguishes it from other Romance

languages and cultural memory that, consciously or unconsciously,

binds itself" (1999: 81).

The essayist also stresses that

"If everyone came to the capital of our North called the Lusophone,

it is because this lady must have other mysteries and other charms

or perplexities, beyond the scientific. Or we attribute her to that

object of mere historical-linguistic curiosity, or even historical-

cultural, which has been turned into a theme where we invest

passion and interests that have to do not only with what we are as

language and culture in the past, but with the present and the

destiny of this continent that is immaterial, or we want more clearly

to become the Lusophone world. However, neither here nor

anywhere else, we pretend, we Portuguese, that the content and,

The translation of this article was funded by national funds through FCT - Fundação para a Ciência e

a Tecnologia - as part of OBSERVARE project with the reference UID/CPO/04155/2013, with the aim of

publishing Janus.net. Text translated by Thomas Rickard.

JANUS.NET, e-journal of International Relations

e-ISSN: 1647-7251

Vol. 7, Nº. 2 (November 2016-April 2017), pp. 104-120

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Inês Amaral, Silvino Lopes Évora

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above all, the echo of the concept of appearing so innocent drags

with it the same images, the same procession of ghosts, the same

implicits or misunderstandings, in the different spaces that we

attribute without an ounce of perplexity, the ideal and idealised

Lusophone sphere" (1999: 81).

Martins argues that

"What is in play in this symbolic struggle between cosmopolitan and

multicultural globalisation is the power to define reality, as well as

the power to impose internationally this definition, I mean, this

di/vision. In this understanding, the Lusophone figure is not a

different thing from the social reality of the distinct national

communities where this symbolic battle is processed. And it is

because of the social representations of reality not being foreign to

their own social reality of the countries that they shape that, in my

view, they must be revaluated formulations which tend to deny the

Lusophone figure not only symbolic efficacy, but political

effectiveness as well" (2004: 8).

The multiplicity of narratives and social representations, while resulting from the

socialisation process and directly associated with the collective identity (Daniel Antunes

and Amaral, 2015), are fragmented and occupy the minds of the Lusophone (one

meaning remains to be seen, and with an intensity to be established). They derive from

a social and cultural memory that emerges from a shared symbolic construction that is

framed and interpreted unevenly by different generations. For an analysis of cyberspace

as a Lusophone interface, it becomes imperative to examine whether digital discourse

can metamorphose the social representations of the Lusophone (important considering

that a percentage of Lusophone are not even aware of the representation of their

collective identity), which can enhance the creation of new identities and induce change

in social relations. The "interface" expression, in this work, refers to the point of

intersection where Computer Mediated Communications (CMC) allows interaction and

communication in an almost continuous state without time or geographical barriers.

The dynamics of contemporaneity, mobility and mutation are processes that build

questions of citizenship on micro and macro scales, in a discourse where "I" and "other"

are an alternating continuum. The assumption that the interaction between Lusophones

in the digital environment stems from a shared social construction also implies rethinking

the role of cyberspace in the (re)construction of the Lusophone identity, as stated

Macedo, Martins and Macedo (2010). The authors stress that the Information Society

"seems to call on cyberspace as a new place of the Lusophone,

which establishes virtual communication networks between people

who think, feel and speak in Portuguese" (2010: 14).

JANUS.NET, e-journal of International Relations

e-ISSN: 1647-7251

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The narrative of the Lusophone in contemporary times is described by Patrisia Ciancio in

a master's thesis on the “Digital Lusophone” as being in "coexistence from two phases:

(1) the separatist anachronism of a colonial past that puts all countries and regions

touched by the Discoveries under the same roof of the story, but divides their

existential present;

(2) in postmodernity from the urgency of its insertion in a global environment of

information, which, if developed well (or developed for good), can contribute in

education and the democratisation of media" (2008: 34).

The concept of identity is crucial to understand the relational processes within the

framework of the controversial concept of the "Lusophone". Maria Paula Menezes stresses

that

"Identities – while relational processes – are rarely reciprocal. Never

being pyres, identities are, however, unique, ensuring the

affirmation of difference. The act of identifying produces the

difference, constructed as relations of power (Santos, 2001)"

(2008: 78, 79).

Also, the issue of Lusophone references as a mirror of "Portuguese imperialisation"

(Menezes, 2008) and the formulation of thought have been questionable elements in the

production of the contemporary Lusophone in digital environments, in its broadest

context: intercultural dialogue.

The official discourse of the Lusophone refers to concepts of memory leveraged in

colonialism and an imaginary of empire. However, post-colonial identities are constructed

based on geography and generational issues, expanding "hyphenated identities" (Khan,

2008) because

"They cannot be represented as a stable, fixed phenomenon,

because to think of chronological boundaries between the colonial

and the postcolonial leads us to erroneous epistemological abodes,

inducing the mistake of thinking that, historically, the colonial is an

already-past episode" (2008: 97).

As a result of postmodernity, which is expressed in current social reality and as an

exponent of globalisation, the Internet implies a reconfiguration of the concept of

territory; it arises as a result of the construction of shared systems of representation and

social dynamics. What gives it meaning and identity is the symbolic elements adopted by

each group. Digital spaces are immaterial and concretised in places and non-places

(Augé, 2010), where networks of networks and networks of communities co-exist.

The Internet has come to position itself as a break with the past, leveraging reinvented

pasts and the emerging present. Will we be faced with the emergence of abstract digital

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e-ISSN: 1647-7251

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spaces that enable representations of memory and the present in a reconfiguration of

power relations as well as their materialisation in points of digital intersection? Can

networks be a possible way of renewal and strengthening of ties in the Lusophone? And

what role does Facebook play, now that is has replaced Orkut as the most important

social network in the largest Lusophone States, that is Brazil?

Geographies of the Information Society

The introduction of technology in the public and private life of societies has promoted a

change in behaviours. Effectively,

networking technologies are now an integral part of the daily lives

of millions of people and foster collective intelligence (Lévy, 2001,

2004; Jenkins, 2006). There is an online social revolution in

progress, regarding the use and appropriation of technology. People

are changing their behaviour: they work, live and think in networks

(Amaral, 2014).

However, it is imperative to emphasise that the introduction of technology and,

particularly, the Internet in private and public life of society also has socio-economic

dimensions, which inevitably leads us to specific geographical contexts.

The digitally divide must be referenced in the context of territorial socio-technological

spaces. These territories have their own dynamics that depend on several variables and

produce different potentials of information dissemination and communication through

networking technologies. Access to the Internet can contextualise the geography of “info-

included” and “info-excluded” societies.

According to statistics presented by the Internet site Live Stats

, it is estimated that

46.1% of the world population has access to the Internet, with about 4 billion non-users.

The trajectory of growth in the last fifteen years, according to the site Internet Usage

Statistics

, is 826.9%. The statistics also reveal geographical digital inclusion/exclusion,

with Europe, Australia and North America having the greatest network access while the

African continent does not exceed 28%. Referring also to the question of Latin America

and the Middle East, according to the statistics of 2015, penetration rates have exceeded

50%.

Castells (1996) see the Internet as a space of spaces and in this sense, the local and

private change as the local and global live together. It follows that the digital territorial

issue is defined by factors that envisage a global dimension. Information flows that

inhabit the network translate into a set of nodes connected by different ties that make

them non-places in places (Augé, 2010). In this sense, locations correspond to the social

A site of the Real Time Statistics Project that provides Internet access statistics. Available at

http://www.internetlivestats.com/ (accessed on April 2016).

A site that provides Internet access statistics based on data from local providers, the International

Telecommunications Union, GfK and Nielsen Online. Available on the site

http://www.internetworldstats.com (accessed on December 2015).

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use of technology. Ultimately, access to the Internet should also be solved in light of the

concept of digital literacy.

Digital illiteracy refers to a process that culminates in the exclusion of individuals from

computers and the Internet through the incompetent of their modus operandi. This

excludes the phone

because although it is from the same group of IC (Information and

Communication) products – up to sharing the same infrastructure –

from a sociological perspective the phone has different

characteristics from the others: it is part of the family of products

‘inclusive for illiterates’, which can be used by people with no

technical education (Sorg & Guedes, 2005: 102).

As stated by Gomes (2003), Castells argues that illiteracy is the "new poverty" of

contemporaneity, taken as a new type of "functional illiteracy" that translates into a lack

of skills to exist and co-exist in a global information society. In this sense, it is understood

that digital exclusion has a macro level and multiple micro levels, which result from

different conditions. The dimensions of social exclusion – assuming that these are not

synonymous with poverty – can then be applied to digital illiteracy, thus being

multidimensional, dynamic, relational, contextual and active. In this perspective and in

the context of digital illiteracy, "disadvantaged groups" can be defined as part of the

gradient of a multidimensional scale that understands the lack of social rights indicators

and micro levels of social exclusion, as well as defining groups left out of the society of

digital information for these reasons. Mayer (2003) states that a disadvantaged group

can be defined by a simple expression: "those denied access to the tools needed for self-

sufficiency". A disadvantaged group is then one that describes itself as taking a pattern

of a lack of access to resources imposed by different barriers. Assuming the network as

the central feature in organisational terms in the informational society, the

communication model has asserted a condition of undercitizenship of citizens who are

digitally excluded.

Portraits of the info-inclusion and info-exclusion in Lusophone countries

Forming a profile of info-exclusion and info-inclusion in the eight countries of the CPLP is

not an objective task. Reading Internet access numbers in Lusophone countries lacks a

(much needed) broader framework to contextualise the difference between four

geographic spheres of economic and technological development (and hence social and

cultural): a) Portugal; b) Brazil; c) PALOP; d) East Timor. Inside the PALOP macro sphere

(or "The Five", as they call themselves) one can equate significant differences between

countries and also within countries.

The very formation of identities in different historical, social, political, cultural and

economic contexts raises a permanent cycle of exclusion and inclusion that has nothing

to do with technology. Martins states that

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e-ISSN: 1647-7251

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as a symbolic, mythological expression, the Lusophone is a

particular category of words. It integrates the wide range of words

with which we stage the relationship between it and the other,

between us and others. We use them to express belonging and

identity, and even to demarcate territories (2004: 5).

Table 1: Internet access statistics in 2015 in Lusophone countries

Country

Users with access to

the Internet

Penetration rate

(% of the population)

Angola

5,102,592

26%

Brazil

117,653,652

57.6 %

Cape Verde

219,817

40.3%

Guinea Bissau

70,000

4.1%

Mozambique

1,503,005

5.9%

Portugal

7,015,519

64.9%

Sao Tome and Principe

48,806

25.2%

East Timor

290,000

23.6%

Source: Internet Usage Statistics

On the continent of Africa, the Lusophone world is nothing but a world of sharing

knowledge, information and affections in a multilingual dimension. In the area of the

productions in the online environment, the processing occurs in the same way. It is clear

that information and communication technologies have given a huge contribution in

bringing Lusophones in Africa together, especially to assess the dispersion of the

territories that make up the continent. Cultural variations in Africa are considerable, from

region to region, and the economic density of these freshly decolonisation countries in

the first half of the 1970s is not conducive to human traffic in the geographic circuits that

mark the offline universe.

Travel between the different Portuguese-African countries is beyond the reach of most

families of this community. Associated with this, we find on the continent thousands of

families struggling to formulate answers to basic questions related to the survival of a

human, such as food, drinking water, clothing, medication, education, hygiene and public

health, among others. In these cases, they are not close to the possibilities of developing

mutual understanding through contacts made possible by traffic in the offline world. In

this regard, the mediation of the mass media can have a major role. Television, by force

of its image and the ability to carry distant realities to the interior of planetary homes,

could have a major role in this matter. However, there are some factors that do not

contribute to this dimension of television communication in the Luso-African space:

A) the vast majority of content produced by the television of Angola, Cape Verde,

Guinea-Bissau, Sao Tome and Principe, and Mozambique do not reach other African-

Luso countries;

B) this television, especially public television – that has more responsibility in

precipitating the symbolic values of their countries – is confined to the "common

places" and their "places of comfort", and many of them cannot cover all of their

national territories;

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c) there are few documentaries, which constitute valuable elements to anchor the

knowledge of a society;

d) Extended reports are not cultivated television genres in Luso-African countries.

Through investigative journalism, extended reports redeem values entrenched in the

experience of a people, bringing fruitful elements for the knowledge society;

e) television lacks entertainment programmes of high cultural value, which would end

up bringing added value to the symbolic tradition of these people.

Taking into account the lack of material resources, difficulties in geographical movement

and the weak role of traditional media in the formation of bridges between different

Lusophone communities in Africa, there is a space remaining (that is potentially strong)

for the development of communication, systems of information and knowledge exchange.

Here, the computer arrogates a major role.

Macedo, Martins and Macedo (2010) cite Wagner to illustrate the Brazilian situation that

has experienced undeniable progress in the population's access to

the Internet, although the numbers still show strong disparities

between regions of the country, social class and people’s educational

level.

Several authors report that the rate of Internet penetration in Brazil comes down to an

urban phenomenon, centred on literacy. Although it is clear that regions with high

population density, independent of socio-economic issues, have started using the

network regularly. And here the centrality of professional media and the extension of the

impact that this has on cyberspace is not indifferent.

The Portuguese case is invariably different because it centres on the support of the

European Union, economic levels and has higher literacy than the other countries. The

degree of development in access to information and knowledge is distinct from other

Lusophone countries, a fact that the very proliferation of electronic devices supports.

East Timor is a country that experienced a long period of occupation and later conflict.

In this sense, low Internet penetration rate seems an obvious fact at a time in which

basic issues of infrastructure continue.

Another issue to consider is the number of Portuguese speakers originating in the eight

countries around the world. According to the Observatório da Língua Portuguesa

, 244

million Portuguese speakers exist. However, only in Portugal and in Brazil do the entire

population speak Portuguese. In other countries, the Observatório notes that not all the

inhabitants speak Portuguese: Angola (70%), Cape Verde (87%), Guinea Bissau (57%),

Mozambique (60%), Sao Tome and Principe (90%) and East Timor (20%). In relation to

this Ciancio states that

Data from 2010 is available at http://observatorio-lp.sapo.pt/pt/dados-estatisticos/falantes-de-portugues-

literacia (Retrieved December 2015).

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the Portuguese language, which is the mother language, in some

cases becomes the stepmother and an elitist mechanism. It also

gains connotations of rejection and the suffocation of national

languages, being naturally exclusive in the way it is used. The

people are on the margins of an educational process of language

teaching in accordance with their local realities (2008: 63).

Data from the study of the Observatório da Língua Portuguesa reveal that about 10

million Portuguese speakers are in diaspora. In this sense, according to Internet World

Stats, Portuguese was the fifth most spoken language on the Internet in 2012 with 131.5

million users. The data show, then, that the idea that we are witnessing a shift from a

mass communication model to network communication does not imply an annulment,

but rather an articulation of and with the previous models,

producing new communication formats and also allowing new ways

of facilitating empowerment and, thus, a communicative anatomy

(Cardoso, 2009: 57).

The network, as an area of multiple fragments, gives societies the impetus of

convergence of media, cultures, people and knowledge through interfaces. The Cape

Verdean case illustrates this argument and cements the idea that the construction of

narratives about the countries is directly related to the media, institutions and,

essentially, language appropriation. Ciancio stresses that

the land of the Lusophone is fluctuating because it does not define a

territory of continuity, and demarcates unconscious identities that are

lost in the unknown and in the plurality of fragmentation (2008: 7).

The new ecosystem of communication that emerges with the Internet refers to the

relationship between technology and the social dimension of its use. However, identities

and cultural diversities that make up the vast universe of the Lusophone do not compete

against a unified idea of a Lusophone network society. This approach would also be

reducing the rich cultural diversity of 244 million Portuguese speakers throughout the

world. Still, we risk thinking that the paradigm of the collective, network concepts and

community are now central to the study of social spaces that proliferate the Internet and

allow one to map mobilisations, representations and expressions of the Lusophone as a

single universe that brings together citizens who share ties of identity, culture and

language.

Cyberspace as a Lusophone interface: an attempt in "Lusophone

connection" as the point of intersection

CMC can simulate presence and enhance the mediation of individualisation and the

collective through processes of communication, cooperation and conflict that materialise

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through the social use of technology. In this regard, consideration is given in the words

of Jouët:

Communication practices are often analysed as being the product of

changes in communication systems and equipment, which are

though to define de facto the way in which individuals use them.

Such technical determinism, however, should be avoided. The same

can be said of the limiting model of social determinism which ignores

the role of technical objects and rather sees social change as the

principal factor determining usage (2009: 215, 216).

Looking to overcome the limitations of technological and social determinism, we try in

this section to analyse groups formed through interaction mediated digitally. In this

sense, we consider that CMC enhances communication among geographically dispersed

individuals, but also generates digitally mediated cooperation and are potential

instruments of mobilisation of info-included societies (Recuero, 2002). The social

dynamics occurring in cyberspace refer to interactions that develop via CMC, generating

exchange flows and social support structures (Recuero, 2009). The collective

representation now focuses on new patterns of social interaction arising from individual

and joint use of technology (Castells, 2003). Recuero argues that

the beginning of the global village is also the beginning of the

deterritorialisation of social ties (2009: 135).

Recuero sees virtual communities as the setting for

human groups that emerge in cyberspace, through computer-

mediated communication (2003a: s/p).

It follows that the geographical issue fades and shared social construction becomes an

important element.

Among the different social media illustrating the landscape of the network, Facebook is

the platform with the most Portuguese speakers. Data from the Social Bakers agency

show that Portuguese was the third most spoken language on this social network in

November 2012 with 58,539,940 users. This number is impressive compared with the

data that the same agency made available for May 2010: 6,119,680 — showing an

exponential increase.

Data available at http://www.socialbakers.com/blog/1064-top-10-fastest-growing-facebook-languages

(Accessed on August 2014).

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Table 2: statistics for users registered on Facebook in 2012 in Lusophone countries

Country

Registered users on

Facebook

Penetration rate

(%)

Angola

645,460

3.2%

Brazil

51,173,660

26.4%

Cape Verde

107,340

20.5%

Guinea Bissau

M=NA

Mozambique

362,560

1.5%

Portugal

4,663,060

43.3%

Sao Tome and Principe

6,940

3.8%

East Timor

Source: Internet Usage Statistics

Using triangulation, which crossed document analysis with quantitative content analysis

and netnography, we developed a case study to categorise and understand the social

representations of the Lusophone through its mapping on Facebook. This takes the

assumption that networks translates us (individuals and groups) into interconnections of

many ties. The network communication model thus results from a fusion of different

techno-social spheres that shape society. With this work we seek to answer two research

questions:

(1) Will we be faced with the emergence of abstract digital spaces that enable

representations of memory and present a reconfiguration of power relations and

their materialisation in digital intersections?

(2) Can the network be assumed as a possible way to renew and strengthen Lusophone

ties?

We outlined the following objectives:

(1) examine whether Facebook can induce reconstruction of networks of significance

and social Lusophone representations, through the categories of pages identified

with the word "Lusophone" and from the descriptions given;

(2) analyse if digital discourse can metamorphose the social Lusophone

representations, trying to identify if there is a single social representation that

derives from a shared social construction materialised in similar discourse in the

conversations in the groups studied.

For a mapping of the Lusophone on the platform Facebook, we searched for the

Portuguese keyword "Lusophone" on pages and groups. An interesting point to focuse on

are presented suggestions to the research for "Lusophone": "Lusophone games",

"Lusophone games 2014", "Lusophone games mascot", "Lusophone games goa 2014"

and "Lusophone games goa 2013".

We sought only to map groups with more than 60 members and pages with more than

100 fans. Based on these requirements, we inventoried 43 groups and 28 pages.

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e-ISSN: 1647-7251

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Table 3: Members of groups identified through the word "Lusophone"

Members

Groups

60 – 100

23.25%

101 – 300

32.56%

301 – 500

11.63%

501 – 700

4.65%

701 – 900

6.98%

901 – 1100

More than 1101

20.93%

Source: Elaborated by the authors

The number of members of the groups identified and analysed is fragmented, and there

is standard being set even by category. Still, it is possible to note that groups with fewer

members are those with a closed access typology.

Table 4: Type of access to groups identified through the word "Lusophone"

Access Type

Groups

Open

55.81%

Closed

44.19%

Source: Elaborated by the authors

There was a balance between the typology of access to the group, having been observed

that requests for access are positive and quickly answered.

Table 5: Categories of groups identified through the word "Lusophone"