OBSERVING THE LEADER'S INTERVENTION TO DEMOCRACY ON SOCIAL MEDIA: AN ANALYSIS OF THE TWEETS OF TRUMP AND BIDEN ON TWITTER IN THE 2020 US PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS IN TERMS OF CONTENT AND SENTIMENT ANALYSIS

Yıl 2021, Cilt: 11 Sayı: 3, 1073 - 1097, 01.07.2021

Sarp Bağcan Sezgin Savaş Esra Tunçay

Öz

In democracy that focuses on the individual's participation in the social system, the individual constitutes the direct target audience of politicians who are struggling for power with their citizen identity. Social media is also seen as the most up-to-date communication environment where the leader can directly, instantly and directly be able to / interact with her audience and establish a community system of her own. In the research, an answer to the questions of “Do political leaders have an open and direct intervention to democracy on social media?” and “How are leaders communicating with the masses in a critical and emotional election?" have been sought. For this, the 2020 US Presidential Election, the consequences of which will affect world politics, has been discussed. The process is set in a time frame with the agenda regarding before-sequence and after. Another important issue is that it is the highest turnout election in US history in the last 120 years; therefore, it points out that the level of expectations and feelings attributed to it is high. In this background and framework, examples were taken from leaders’ tweets; these leaders are at the point of representing the agenda and emotional intensity at the highest level in influencing the masses. As a result, it has been observed that Biden was running the process in a rather flat, cool-blooded, election and Trump-oriented manner, while Trump was an emotional leader acting with his audience in real life and social media with his actions and discourses and that he intervenes directly and openly to democracy in accordance with his leadership and aims, using communication (discourse and emotions) to activate the masses. 9.121 tweets have been obtained and analysed in total using RStudio (version R-4.0.4) programming language. The tweets discussed were subjected to content and sentiment analysis using text mining methods. It is possible to count the use of social media in this way as a sign of an era in which the legitimacy of governments and elections in politics can be debated constantly.

Anahtar Kelimeler

2020 US Presidential Election, Trump, Biden, democracy, political communication, discourse analysis, sentiment analysis

SOSYAL MEDYADA DEMOKRASİYE LİDER MÜDAHALESİNİ GÖZLEMLEMEK: 2020 ABD BAŞKANLIK SEÇİMLERİ’NDE TRUMP VE BIDEN’IN TWEETLERİNİN İÇERİK VE DUYGU ANALİZİ AÇISINDAN İNCELENMESİ

Öz

Bireyin toplumsal sisteme katılımını merkezine alan demokraside birey, vatandaş kimliğiyle, iktidar mücadelesi içinde olan siyasetçilerin iletişim açısından doğrudan hedef kitlesini oluşturmaktadır. Liderin, doğrudan, anlık ve filtresiz şekilde kitlesiyle olabildiği/etkileşime girebildiği, kendine ait bir topluluk sistemi kurabildiği sosyal medya da mevcut en güncel iletişim ortamı olarak görülmektedir. Araştırmada, “Sosyal medyada siyasi liderlerin demokrasiye açık ve doğrudan bir müdahalesi var mıdır?”, “Liderlerin kritik ve duygu yoğunluklu bir seçim anında kitlelerle iletişimi nasıldır?” sorularına cevap aranmaktadır. Bunun için sonuçları dünya siyasetini etkileyebilecek olan 2020 ABD Başkanlık Seçimleri ele alınmıştır. Süreç öncesi-sırası ve sonrasıyla ilgili gündem ile birlikte bir zaman dilimine oturtulmuştur. ABD tarihinde 120 yıl sonra gerçekleşen en yüksek katılımlı seçim olması ise diğer önemli bir husustur; dolayısıyla ona ilişkin beklentilerin ve yüklenen duyguların düzeyinin yüksek olduğunu işaret etmektedir. Bu zemin ve çerçevede liderlerin tweetlerinden örnekler alınmıştır; bu liderler gündem ve duygusal yoğunluğu şahıslarında en yüksek düzeyde temsil etme ve kitleleri etkileyebilme noktasında bulunmaktadır. Toplam 9.121 tweet RStudio (sürüm R-4.0.4) programlama dili kullanılarak elde edilmiş ve analiz edilmiştir. Ele alınan tweetler, metin madenciliği yöntemleri kullanılarak içerik ve duygu analizine tabi tutulmuştur. Sonuçta Biden’in oldukça düz, soğukkanlı, seçim ve Trump odaklı şekilde süreci yürüttüğü, Trump’ın ise eylem ve söylemleriyle gerçek hayatta ve sosyal medyada kitlesiyle birlikte hareket eden duygusal bir lider olduğu, liderliğine ve amaçlarına uygun olarak demokrasiye açık ve doğrudan müdahale ettiği, iletişimi (söylem ve duyguları) kitleleri aktive etmek için kullandığı görülmüştür. Sosyal medyanın bu şekilde kullanımını, siyasette iktidarların ve seçimlerin meşruluğunun sürekli tartışılabileceği bir dönemin işareti olarak saymak mümkündür.

Anahtar Kelimeler

2020 ABD BAşkanlık Seçimi, Trump, Biden, demokrasi, siyasal iletişim, söylem analizi, duygu analizi

Kaynakça

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