POLITICAL COMMUNICATION ON SOCIAL MEDIA: EXAMPLE OF POLITICAL LEADERS ' TWITTER USE IN LOCAL ELECTIONS MARCH 31, 2019

Abstract

With the worldwide development of internet technology, Twitter, one of the social media environments, is increasingly reaching a large number of users. Web 2.0 technologies, which leave Web 1.0 technology behind, now lead to a decrease in the motivation of individuals to benefit from traditional media and thus to move towards new media areas. Realizing that the Internet is becoming widespread and gaining popularity worldwide, politicians and supporters have started to produce different strategies to influence the masses by turning to new media areas. In March March 31, 2019 local election campaigns in Turkey, the study is aimed to evaluate the findings by examining the period between March 1-31 in the context of tweets sent from the Twitter accounts of the political leaders identified in the study. The study aims to examine the tweets posted by political party leaders between 1-31 March 2019 through thematic analysis to reveal what strategies political propaganda activities they carry out on social media involve. In this context, the study analyzes the tweet content of political leaders by dividing them into specific categories.