Leaders on Twitter- Twitter as a Digital Diplomacy Tool

Year 2021, Volume: 23 Issue: 1, 207 - 232, 18.04.2021

Ceren Urcan

Abstract

In this study, use of Twitter by Narendra Modi- the Prime Minister of India, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan- the President of the Republic of Turkey and Imran Khan- the Prime Minister of Pakistan is analyzed in terms of their tweets about international issues, reflections of their emotions and their use of language, their interactions and their approaches to the problems. Taking place in the top 10 list of Twiplomacy rankings, they are all active users. The accounts of selected leaders are analyzed by considering each tweet in a determined period. While Narendra Modi shares every activity that he is in and information for the public, Imran Khan mostly tweets about political issues. Recep Tayyip Erdoğan mostly uses his account to inform about domestic developments. All of them have quite active accounts and they use Twitter mostly to inform both their citizens and international community. Reflections of their emotions and tendencies are visible and sometimes perceivable. Since the selected period is coincided with the rise of COVID-19, all of three leaders paid special attention to this pandemic.

Keywords

digital diplomacy, internet, leaders, international relations

Liderler Twitter'da: Dijital Diplomasi Aracı Olarak Twitter

Abstract

Bu çalışmada Hindistan Başbakanı Narendra Modi’nin, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti Cumhurbaşkanı Recep Tayyip Edoğan’ın ve Pakistan Başbakanı Imran Khan’ın Twitter kullanımı, uluslararası sorunlar hakkındaki tweetleri, duyguların tweetlere yansıması, dilin kullanımı, liderlerin problemlere karşı yaklaşımları ve diğer hesaplarla etkileşimleri açısından incelenmiştir. Twiplomacy sıralamasında ilk onda yer alan üç lider de aktif Twitter kullanıcılarıdır. Belirlenmiş bir zaman aralığında atılmış olan tüm tweetler incelenerek ilgili hesaplar analiz edilmiştir. Narendra Modi katılmış olduğu tüm etkinlikleri ve halk için gereken bilgileri paylaşırken Imran Khan çoğunlukla siyasi problemler ile ilgili tweet atmıştır. Recep Tayyip Erdoğan ise çoğunlukla ülke içi gelişmelerle ilgili bilgilendirme amacıyla hesabını kullanmaktadır. Hesapların hepsi de oldukça aktif hesaplardır ve çoğunlukla hem kendi vatandaşlarını hem de uluslararası toplumu bilgilendirme amacıyla kullanılmaktadır. Hesap sahiplerinin tweetlerindeki duygusal yansımalar ve yatkınlıklar da belirgindir ve belirgin olmadığı zamanlarda da algılanabilir niteliktedir. Seçilen zaman aralığı COVID-19’un yükselişte olduğu döneme denk geldiğinden dolayı üç liderin de pandemi ile ilgili tweetlere özel ilgi gösterdikleri görülmektedir.

Keywords

dijital diplomasi, internet, liderler, uluslararası ilişkiler

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