This paper examines the nature and dynamics of discursive contestation on the EU Delegation to the Philippines’ Facebook page. It hopes to make a significant contribution to the digital diplomacy literature by examining audience engagement on a digital diplomacy platform. This is done through a discourse analysis of comments that were published over a year starting 1 September 2016. The findings indicated that commenters’ articulations coalesced into two views of the EU in the Philippines: (1) as helpful partner, and (2) as interloper infringing on local sovereignty. The presence of two contrasting discourses allowed for the examination of the nature of discursive contestation on the EU’s Facebook page. The study’s findings highlight the importance of context in order to fully appreciate the discourses that are articulated. The social and discursive aspects of context influenced how commenters articulated themselves. Viewed from a broader perspective, the context also created the conditions for the discursive contestation to occur on the EU Delegation’s page. It is hoped that through this paper, digital diplomacy specialists will gain a better appreciation for engagement on social media platforms, and that they appreciate the significance of the concepts of discourse and context in the work that they do.

本文考察了欧盟代表团访问菲律宾 Facebook 页面上的话语争论的性质和动态。它希望通过检查数字外交平台上的受众参与度，为数字外交文献做出重大贡献。这是通过对自 2016 年 9 月 1 日起一年内发表的评论进行的话语分析来完成的。调查结果表明，评论者的表述结合了菲律宾对欧盟的两种看法：(1) 作为有益的合作伙伴，以及 (2) 作为侵犯地方主权的闯入者。两种对比鲜明的话语的存在允许对欧盟 Facebook 页面上的话语争论的性质进行审查。该研究的发现强调了上下文的重要性，以便充分理解所表达的话语。语境的社会和话语方面影响了评论者表达自己的方式。从更广泛的角度来看，上下文也为在欧盟代表团页面上发生的话语争论创造了条件。希望通过本文，数字外交专家将更好地了解社交媒体平台的参与度，并了解话语和背景概念在他们所做工作中的重要性。