CELEBRITY SOCIAL MEDIA ACCOUNTS AS PUBLIC DIPLOMACY TOOLS

Bir ülkeden diğerine resmi ziyaretler, yerleşik temsilcilikler ya da üst düzey devlet görevlilerinin görüşmeleri gibi daha kapalı, önceden çizilmiş üslupların ve iletişim yollarının titizlikle takip edildiği geleneksel diplomasinin karşılıklı iletişime, etkileşime ve ortak değer üretimine dayalı daha açık, esnek ve ulaşılabilir kamu diplomasisine evriminde, kitle iletişim teknolojilerinin rolü kaçınılmazdır. Özellikle dijital medya, diplomasinin sadece resmi aktörlerinin çevrimiçi temsilini ve daha kolay temasını mümkün kılmakla kalmamış, aynı zamanda toplumların her kesim ve düzeyinden yurttaşa etkileşim imkanı tanımıştır. Kendiliğinden bir kültürel diplomasi başarı hikayesine dönüşen Türk dizilerinin artık dünyaca tanınan oyuncuları da, sosyal medyada dünyanın dört bir yanından takipçileriyle etkileşim halindedir. Bu olgunun, Türkiye’nin yabancı kamuoyu ile temasında dijital diplomasi aracı olarak nasıl bir potansiyel taşıdığını anlamak için “Fatmagül’ün Suçu Ne?” dizisi ile 5 kıtadaki şöhretini sağlamlaştıran oyuncu Beren Saat’in Instagram hesabı incelenmiştir. Bu içerik analizi, uluslararası ölçekte tanınan dizi yüzlerinin dijital hesaplarının global bir mikro kamusal alan niteliği taşıdığını ve daha etkili dijital diplomasi iletişim stratejisi için verimli bir kaynak oluşturduğunu göstermiştir.

CELEBRITY SOCIAL MEDIA ACCOUNTS AS PUBLIC DIPLOMACY TOOLS

The evolution of traditional diplomacy carried out during the formal visits or summits of permanent representative agencies or high level protocols in a relatively closed, neatly planned, and procedural environments to a more open, flexible, and accessible way of a public diplomacy, which is based on  mutual communication, interaction, and creation of a common value would not have been possible without the transformation of communication technologies. Digital media, especially, has not only enabled the online representation of official actors but offered every citizen and non-state actors the opportunity to interact. Similarly, Turkish TV celebrities, the faces of the global phenomenon which became an example of cultural diplomacy by itself,  have also had the chance to be in touch with their global fans. This paper aims to understand whether their social media accounts have the potential to function as a tool of Turkish digital diplomacy. To do this, the Instagram account of the famous actress, Beren Saat, has been analysed. The content analysis depicts that celebrity social media accounts have the characteristic of a global public sphere in a micro level and they have the potential to contribute to digital diplomacy and they can be used as a strategic communication channel. 

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