A Qualitative Research to Explore How Young Voters Perceive Politicians’ Use of Social Media

Year 2024, , 751 - 765, 30.09.2024

Rıdvan Kocaman , Melih Coşgun

https://doi.org/10.29023/alanyaakademik.1445440

Abstract

Sosyal medya son zamanlarda siyasi bağlamın önemli bir parçası haline gelmiştir ve hem seçmenler hem de politikacılar tarafından aktif olarak kullanılmaktadır. Bununla birlikte, mevcut literatür, seçilen araştırma konuları veya ilgili makalelerde benimsenen metodolojiler nedeniyle politikacıların sosyal medya kullanımı etrafında oluşmuştur. Bu nedenle, seçmenlerin bakış açısını yansıtmakta eksik kalmaktadır. Bu doğrultuda, mevcut çalışma genç seçmenlerin politikacıların sosyal medya kullanımına ilişkin algılarını keşfetmeyi amaçlamaktadır. Bunun için sosyal medyayı aktif olarak kullanan, sosyal medyada politikacılarla etkileşime giren ve paylaşımlarını takip eden 18 katılımcıyla derinlemesine görüşme yapılmıştır. Daha sonra, verileri analiz etmek için nitel içerik analizi tekniğinden yararlanılmıştır. Bulgular, genç seçmenlerin sosyal medyayı kullanan siyasetçileri samimiyetsiz, yenilikçi, sosyal olarak uyumlu ve iletişim konusunda yetkin olarak gördüklerini göstermektedir. Sonuçlar, siyasetçilerin sosyal medya kullanımının genç seçmenler tarafından nasıl algılandığını ortaya koyarak ilgili boşluğu doldurmak suretiyle mevcut literatüre katkıda bulunmaktadır. Dolayısıyla bu çalışma, gelecekteki araştırmacıları, politikacılara seçmen davranışını etkilemek ve yönlendirmek için sosyal medyayı nasıl daha etkili kullanacaklarına dair kılavuzlar sunmak yerine, seçmenler lehine pratik sonuçlar sunmaya teşvik etmektedir.

Keywords

Sosyal Medya, Genç Seçmenler, Siyaset, Nitel Araştırma

A Qualitative Research to Explore How Young Voters Perceive Politicians’ Use of Social Media

Abstract

Social media has recently become a vital part of the political context and is actively used by voters and politicians. However, the current body of knowledge was generated around the politicians' use of social media because of the research subjects selected or the methodologies adopted in relevant papers. Thus, it does not reflect the voters' perspective. Accordingly, the current study explores young voters' perceptions of politicians' use of social media. To do this, in-depth interviews were conducted with 18 participants actively using social media, interacting with politicians on social media, and following their posts. Then, the qualitative content analysis technique was utilized to analyze the data. Findings indicate that young voters regard politicians who use social media to be insincere, innovative, socially conformable, and well-versed in communication. Results contribute to the extant literature by filling the relevant gap by revealing how young voters perceive politicians' use of social media. Thus, the study encourages future researchers to offer practical implications in favor of voters rather than providing politicians guidelines on utilizing social media more effectively to influence and direct voter behavior.

Keywords

Social Media, Young Voters, Politics, Qualitative Research

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