DİJİTAL SESSiZLiK VE SİMGESEL DİRENİŞ: #BLACKOUTTUESDAY KAMPANYASINDA İLETİŞİMSEL EYLEM OLARAK SESSiZLİK

Öz

Bu çalışma, Black Lives Matter hareketiyle dayanışma amacıyla ortaya çıkan küresel çevrim içi bir protesto olan #BlackoutTuesday kampanyasında dijital sessizlik ve simgesel direnişin, birer iletişimsel eylem biçimi olarak nasıl işlev gördüğünü incelemektedir. Sessizlik çoğunlukla ifade eksikliği olarak değerlendirilse de bu makale dijital aktivizm bağlamında sessizliğin bilinçli ve simgesel anlam taşıyan bir protesto biçimi olabileceğini ileri sürmektedir. Siyah kare görselleri, kullanıcı açıklamaları ve eleştirel tepkiler dahil olmak üzere Instagram ve Twitter gönderilerinin nitel söylem analizine dayanan bu çalışma, dijital sessizliğin dört temel işlevini belirlemiştir: varlık gösterme, dayanışma, tartışma ve estetik müdahale. Bulgular, sosyal medya kullanıcılarının görsel ve metinsel minimalizmi yalnızca dijital söylemden çekilmek için değil, aynı zamanda sosyal medya alanını yas, düşünme ve simgesel direniş için yeniden çerçevelemek amacıyla kullandıklarını ortaya koymaktadır. Bununla birlikte, kampanya gösterişli dayanışma ve hayati önemdeki aktivist bilgilerin bastırılması gibi gerilimler de üretmiş, ağ tabanlı kamusal alanlarda simgesel eylemlerin ne kadar tartışmalı olabileceğini göstermiştir. Bu çalışma, sessizliği stratejik ve duygulanımsal bir pratik olarak ele alarak iletişim kuramına katkıda bulunmakta; dijital protesto kültürlerinde eylemsizliğin politik anlamını vurgulamaktadır. Bulgular, niyetle seferber edildiğinde sessizliğin güçlü bir direniş biçimi olabileceğini, ancak algoritmik olarak şekillenen platformlarda yanlış anlaşılma ve sahiplenilmeye açık hale gelebileceğini göstermektedir.

Anahtar Kelimeler

• dijital sessizlik
• iletişimsel eylem
• BlackoutTuesday
• sosyal medya aktivizmi
• söylem analizi

DIGITAL SILENCE AND SYMBOLIC RESISTANCE: SILENCE AS COMMUNICATIVE ACTION IN THE #BLACKOUTTUESDAY CAMPAIGN

Öz

This study investigates the role of digital silence and symbolic resistance as forms of communicative action in the #BlackoutTuesday campaign, a global online protest that emerged in solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement. While silence is often conceptualized as a lack of expression, this article argues that, in digital activism, silence can operate as a deliberate and symbolically charged act of protest. Drawing on a qualitative discourse analysis of Instagram and Twitter posts-including black square imagery, user captions, and critical responses-the study identifies four key functions of digital silence: presence, solidarity, controversy, and aesthetic disruption. Findings show that social media users used visual and textual minimalism not merely to withdraw from digital discourse, but to reframe social media space as a site of mourning, reflection, and symbolic resistance. However, the campaign also generated tensions around performative allyship and the suppression of essential activist information, revealing the contested nature of symbolic gestures in networked publics. The study contributes to communication theory by extending understandings of silence as strategic and affective practice, and by highlighting the political significance of inaction in digital protest cultures. These insights suggest that silence-when mobilized with intention-can serve as a powerful form of resistance, yet remains vulnerable to misinterpretation and appropriation within algorithmically mediated platforms.

Anahtar Kelimeler

• digital silence
• communicative action
• BlackoutTuesday
• social media activism
• discourse analysis

Destekleyen Kurum

Herhangi bir mali destek yoktur.

Etik Beyan

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Kaynakça

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