A Research on Social and Political Use of Social Media in Turkey

Social media, generated by advances in internet technology, are heavily used by individuals of every age and every class both in Turkey and all over the world. Social networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter and Google+ make virtual societies possible, and enable ideas, opinions and comments to be shared. This sharing of visual and auditory context without any limitations has produced a more democratic platform. The democratic structure specific to social media enables them to be used for social and political purposes. In this study, a research is conducted on social/political use of social media in Turkey. Results of the research revealed that majority of the participants (46.6%) spend 2 to 4 hours on social media and 75.6% of the participants use smart phones for social media access. 11.2% of participants stated that they use social media for political and social purposes. 78.9% of the participants use Twitter and Facebook for political/social information sharing. 67.7% of participants frequently use Twitter for political/social purposes. In terms of political issues, participants prefer to use social media for domestic affairs rather than international affairs. The most controversial result was about the participants’ pessimistic attitude towards social media. Some part of the participants think that social media will not change anything in Turkey, and the other part states that social media usage will divide up the society. Detailed analyses are given throughout the article.