AN ANALYSIS ON THE ANTI-VACCINATION MOVEMENT IN TURKISH DIGITAL PLATFORMS: EKŞİSÖZLÜK AND FACEBOOK

Abstract

The anti-vaccination movement turned into a public health problem also in Turkey. This paper analyzes the vaccine-related posts of one of the anti-vaccination group on Facebook. The group was selected as a “purposive sample”. Also, vaccine-related entries from EkşiSözlük, one of Turkey’s most popular collaborative hypertext dictionaries, were analyzed. The study aimed to find out if digital social media in Turkey were the main hub for the anti-vaccination movement, as this is the case in several countries, while also aiming to find out the motivations of anti-vaxxers. The Thematic Content Analysis (TCA) of Facebook messages and EkşiSözlük entries showed that Facebook appeared as a platform used more by anti-vaccination, mostly religious anti vaccination groups for disseminating their ideas. In contrast, very few anti-vaxxer messages were seen on EkşiSözlük, used by more secular and usually educated people. It was seen that anti-vaxxers were motivated by postmodern allegedly “scientific” and religious arguments, both of which are often shaped by conspiracy thinking.

Keywords

• Turkey
• public health
• anti-vaccination
• religion
• thematic content analysis
• digital social media
• Facebook
• EkşiSözlük

TÜRK DİJİTAL PLATFORMLARINDA AŞI KARŞITI HAREKETİN ANALİZİ: EKŞİSÖZLÜK VE FACEBOOK ÖRNEĞİ

Abstract

Aşı karşıtı hareket Türkiye’de bir halk sağlığı sorununa dönüşmüştür. Bu araştırmada aşı karşıtı hareketin dijital medyadaki yansımasından bir kesit sunulmaktadır. Bir sosyal medya uygulaması olan Facebook ve bir hipertext sözlük olan Ekşisözlük’ten amaçsal örneklem yöntemiyle seçilen iki grupta yapılmış olan aşı hakkındaki paylaşımlar analiz edilmiştir. Araştırma, dijital sosyal medyanın birçok ülkede olduğu gibi Türkiye’de de aşı karşıtı hareketin asıl yuvası olup olmadığına bakarken, aynı zamanda aşı karşıtlığının hangi motivasyonlara sahip olduğunu göstermeyi amaçlamaktadır. EkşiSözlük girişlerine ve Facebook paylaşımlarına yapılan Tematik İçerik Analizi, Facebook’un daha çok aşı karşıtları ve özellikle dindar aşı karşıtlarının düşüncelerini yaymak için kullandıkları bir platform olduğunu; daha seküler ve eğitimli kesimlerce kullanılan EkşiSözlük’te ise aşı karşıtlığının daha az görüldüğünü göstermiştir. Aşı karşıtlarının motivasyonlarının çoğunlukla sözde “bilimsel” postmodern ve dinsel değerlendirmeler olduğu ve her iki kesimde de komplocu düşüncenin hakim olduğu görülmüştür.

Keywords

• Türkiye
• halk sağlığı
• aşı-karşıtlığı
• din
• tematik içerik analizi
• dijital sosyal medya
• Facebook
• Ekşisözlük

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