Child Marriages: The Role of Twitter on the Child Marriages Problem in Turkey

Year 2021, Volume: 7 Issue: 2, 191 - 219, 01.01.2022

Esra Bayhantopçu

Abstract

Child marriage is one of the major human rights problems in the world. Media is one of the most important tools to deal with this problem. This study intends to analyze the current portrayal of the child marriage problem on Twitter and examine the role of social media on this problem in Turkey. The presentation of the child marriage problem on Twitter is analyzed by examining the Twitter posts of 14 different accounts from the representatives of 4 different groups (5 newspapers, 3 government agencies 3 women's rights defenders, 3 NGOs working on children) for 5 different child marriage cases that occurred in Turkey. The sample is determined by using the purposive sampling method. Van Dijk’s (1983) critical content and discourse analysis method is used for data analysis. 684 tweets for each case in the sample, shared on the day the cases happened and the following 8 days, were analyzed. According to the findings, the problem of child marriage in Turkey is not represented adequately on Twitter and the problem is not highlighted by the relevant groups. Despite the potential of social media to make the problem more visible, it has been observed that Twitter is not being used effectively to eliminate the child marriage problem in Turkey.

Keywords

Child Marriages, Social Media, Twitter, Gender, Media Analysis, Women’s Studies.

Çocuk Evlilikleri: Türkiye’de Twitter’ın Çocuk Evlilikleri Sorunu Üzerindeki Rolü

Abstract

Çocuk evlilikleri, insan haklarına ilişkin dünyamızın önemli sorunlarındandır. Medya ise bu sorunla mücadele etmenin en önemli araçlarından biridir. Bu çalışma, Twitter'daki çocuk evlilik sorununun ele alınış biçimini analiz etmeyi ve sosyal medyanın Türkiye'deki çocuk evlilikleri sorunu üzerindeki rolünü incelemeyi amaçlamaktadır. Bu kapsamda, çocuk evlilikleri sorununun Twitter’da temsil edilişini incelemek amacıyla amaca yönelik örneklem yöntemi kullanılarak, konuyla ilgili 4 farklı gruptan 14 farklı grup temsilcisinin (5 en çok satan gazete, 3 hükümet yetkilisi, 3 kadın hakları savunucusu, 3 çocuklarla ilgili çalışan STK), Türkiye’de meydana gelen 5 farklı çocuk evliliği vakası hakkındaki tweetleri incelenmiştir. Veri analiz yöntemi olarak Van Dijk’in (1983) kritik içerik ve söylem analizi yöntemi kullanılmıştır. Örneklemdeki vakaların gerçekleştiği gün ve takip eden 8 gün boyunda paylaşılan, vakalarla ilgili 684 tweet analiz edilmiştir. Elde edilen verilere göre, çocuk evlilikleri sorunu Twitter’da yeterince temsil edilmemekte ve konu ilgili gruplarca öne çıkarılmamaktadır. Sosyal medyanın sorunu daha görünür hale getirme potansiyeline rağmen, çocuk evlilikleri sorunuyla mücadele etmek için Twitter’dan etkin bir şekilde yararlanılmadığı görülmüştür.

Keywords

Çocuk Evlilikleri, Sosyal Medya, Twitter, Toplumsal Cinsiyet, Medya Analizi, Kadın Çalışmaları.

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