Citizenship, Media and Activism in Turkey during Gezi Park Protests1

Abstract

In the decade that followed the Arab Spring, hopes for greater democratization in the Arabic speaking countries and their neighbours have waned. The political activism in Turkey has grown in the immediate years after the Gezi Park protests especially due to the increasing role of social media as an alternative venue for information exchange for citizens. However, the media freedom began to decline especially after the failed coup in 2016 onward and democratic backsliding have been more prominent. This chapter examines the use of Twitter during the Gezi Park protests and explores the ways in which it motivated or facilitated democratic participation. The data presented here are drawn from independent research efforts of a number of academics who collaborated in data collection, which combines a quantitatively driven social network analysis of approximately one million archived tweets, followed by in-depth interviews in order to collect personal accounts of motivations for online participation of protestors during the Gezi Protests. © 2024 selection and editorial matter, Nael Jebril and Mohammed-Ali Abunajela; individual chapters, the contributors.