susbed Selçuk Üniversitesi Sosyal Bilimler Enstitüsü Dergisi 2667-4750 Selçuk Üniversitesi 10.52642/susbed.1776531 Communication Studies İletişim Çalışmaları The Limits of the Digital Public Sphere: An Analysis of Homophily and Dyadicity in Social Networks through Animal Rights Debates in Turkey Dijital Kamusal Alanın Sınırları: Türkiye’de Hayvan Hakları Tartışmaları Üzerinden Sosyal Ağlarda Homofili ve Diyadiklik Analizi https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9605-0998 Dönmezçelik Ömer https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5863-4976 Hülür Himmet Ankara Hacı Bayram Veli Üniversitesi İletişim Fakültesi https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8486-3732 Yaşın Cem Ankara Hacı Bayram Veli Üniversitesi İletişim Fakültesi 04 30 2026 59 93 113 09 02 2025 04 28 2026 Copyright © 1992, Selçuk Üniversitesi Sosyal Bilimler Enstitüsü Dergisi 1992 Selçuk Üniversitesi Sosyal Bilimler Enstitüsü Dergisi

This study questions whether social media platforms can function as a public sphere and aims to develop an original analytical framework to assess the public sphere quality of digital debates. Drawing on Habermas’s theory, the research approaches the democratic function of the public sphere and examines interaction patterns on social media through social network indicators such as homophily, heterophily, and dyadicity. The significance of the study lies in its empirical assessment of whether social media fosters pluralistic public deliberation. Within the scope of the research, a dataset consisting of 256 users and 367 connections was analyzed using NodeXL software, based on discussions under the hashtag "#HayvanHakları" (“#AnimalRights”) that emerged on the X platform (formerly Twitter) following amendments to the Animal Protection Law in Turkey in 2024. The findings reveal that the discussions predominantly occurred among like-minded users and that the network structure was distinctly homophilic. This indicates that a public sphere based on rational-critical discourse and mutual interaction does not emerge on social media; rather, each group tends to reproduce its own views within echo chambers.

Bu çalışma, sosyal medya platformlarının kamusal alan işlevi görüp göremeyeceğini sorgulamakta ve dijital tartışmaların kamusal alan niteliğini ölçebilecek özgün bir analitik çerçeve geliştirmeyi amaçlamaktadır. Kamusal alanın demokratik işlevi üzerine yapılan tartışmalara Habermas’ın kuramı temelinde yaklaşılmış, homofili, heterofili ve diyadiklik gibi sosyal ağ göstergeleriyle sosyal medya üzerindeki etkileşim örüntüleri incelenmiştir. Araştırmanın önemi, sosyal medyanın çoğulcu kamusal tartışmalar üretip üretmediğini ampirik olarak sınamasından kaynaklanmaktadır. Çalışma kapsamında, 2024 yılında Türkiye’de Hayvanları Koruma Kanunu’nda yapılan değişikliklerin ardından X (eski adıyla Twitter) platformunda oluşan "#HayvanHakları" etiketi altındaki tartışmalardan 256 kullanıcı ve 367 bağlantıdan oluşan veri seti NodeXL yazılımı ile analiz edilmiştir. Elde edilen bulgular, tartışmaların büyük oranda aynı görüşteki kullanıcılar arasında gerçekleştiğini ve ağın belirgin biçimde homofilik olduğunu göstermektedir. Bu durum, sosyal medyada kamusal akıl yürütme ve karşılıklı etkileşim temelinde bir kamusal alanın oluşmadığını, aksine her grubun kendi görüşünü yankı odalarında yeniden üretildiğini ortaya koymaktadır.

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