Twitter-Based Public Discussions in Turkey: A Communicative Analysis

Abstract

Every day users engage in discussions on a wide range of topics on Twitter through hashtags in Turkey. This study examines these discussions as they offer vast opportunities not only to comprehend the role of Twitter in public discussions, but also to understand public discussion culture in Turkey. Based on Dahlgren's (1995) theory, this study analyzes the Twitter-based discussions in three dimensions: structural, representational and interactional. The quantitative data of the study consists of six hashtags of three different case studies and 18,500 tweets produced under these hashtags. Two different methods have been used in the analysis of the tweets: qualitative content analysis and social network analysis. The study has produced three results. Analysis of the structural dimension has suggested that Twitter is relatively inclusive in public discussions. Analysis of the representational dimension, however, has revealed that users do not produce content that is able to contribute to public discussions on Twitter. Finally, analysis of the interactional dimension has showed that the retweet feature of Twitter confines public discussions within their limits rather than expanding them.

Keywords

• Twitter
• Public Sphere
• Public Discussions
• Participation
• Representation
• Interaction

Türkiye’de Twitter’ın Kamusal Tartışmalardaki Rolü Üzerine Bir Araştırma

Abstract

Türkiye’de Twitter kullanıcıları her gün hashtagler aracılığıyla çeşitli konularda tartışmalar yapmaktadırlar. Bu tartışmalar hem Twitter’ın kamusal alan açısından rolünü görmek hem de Türkiye’deki kamusal tartışma kültürünü anlamak açısından büyük bir olanak sunmaktadır. Bu çalışma Twitter dolayımlı tartışmaları analiz ederek Twitter’ın kamusal alan açısından rolünü ve Türkiye’deki kamusal tartışma kültürünü anlamaya yarayacak anlamlı sonuçlar üretmeyi amaçlamaktadır. Çalışma, Dahlgren’in (1995) kuramına yaslanarak Twitter dolayımlı tartışmaları üç ayrı boyutta analiz etmektedir: yapısal, temsili ve etkileşimsel. Çalışmanın nicel verisi üç örnekolaya ilişkin altı hashtag ve bunların altında üretilen 18,500 tweetten oluşmaktadır. Tweetlerin analizinde iki farklı yöntem kullanılmıştır: niteliksel içerik analizi ve sosyal ağ analizi. Çalışma üç sonuç üretmiştir. Twitter’ın yapısal boyut açısından analizi bu platformun kamusal tartışmalarda dışlayıcı değil görece kapsayıcı olduğunu göstermiştir. Böyle olmakla birlikte, Twitter’ın temsili boyut açısından analizi kullanıcıların bu platformda kamusal tartışmalara katkı sağlayacak nitelikte içerik üretmediklerini ortaya çıkarmıştır. Twitter’ın etkileşimsel boyut açısından analizi ise bu platformun retweet özelliğinin kamusal tartışmaları genişletmekten çok kendi içine kapattığını göstermiştir.

Keywords

• Twitter
• Kamusal Alan
• Kamusal Tartışmalar
• Katılım
• Temsil
• Etkileşim

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