Dijital Aktivizmde Ünlüler: Ahbap Platformu Üzerine Bir Değerlendirme

Abstract

Cammaerts (2007, p. 217) defines activism as the ability to create or change history. Digital technologies help to create a new channel for activism. Internet activism or rather, social media activism, is a sub-type of digital activism. According to the literature there are certain types of digital activism such as slacktivism, clicktivism, and hacktivism. Considine (2003, p. 134) refers to two types of digital activism strategies. The first one supports real life activism via digital content, and the second one is content created by activists just for the digital media and the Internet. Celebrities have been important figures in activism for a long time. Celebrity activism can be seen as the celebrity endorsement strategy of non-governmental organisations. Celebrities can be helpful for different issues such as raising awareness, fundraising, etc. However, if the celebrity activism and the celebrity involved in the cause are not sincere then this strategy does not work well. Celebrity activism is associated with role modeling, and McCracken's meaning transfer model. According to McCracken's (1989) meaning transfer model, consumers have certain perceptions of celebrities and those perceptions are transfered to the brand through celebrity endorsement. This also works for non-governmental organisations and social causes. Huddart (2005) developed a model for celebrity and civil society engagement. According to his model there are 4 types of celebrities in activism, namely; Patron, Spokesperson, Ambassador/Author, and Visionary Leader. Digital technologies are now serving as a new tool for activism. They are also serving as a new tool for celebrity ABSTRACT With the power to speak to a wide audience celebrities can create an awareness in society and mobilization can be ensured by transfering meaning between celebrity identity and an activist purpose. This study is based on the fact that celebrities' ability to access a wide audience by channeling their activist identity through their social media accounts. This study aims to examine how celebrities reflect their activist efforts and identities in their social media accounts. Haluk Levent's official Twitter account, who's been considered as an activist celebrity, is examined using the purposive sampling. This sample was chosen because of his popularity due to celebrity activism, and his growing ability to reach more people. The content analysis technique was used. The analysis was limited to the period between 15.10.2018-15.12.2018. As a result of the study, the majority of the retweets belong to the 'Ahbap Platformu'. In this context, he highlights the work of volunteers, associating his personal brand and the organization. He has tweeted about various social issues, notably 'Health'. The tone of the text appears to be mostly warm in both the activist and non-activist content. According to the celebrity activism model, his Twitter activism can be categorized as 'Spokesperson'.

Dijital Aktivizm Olgusuna Hayvan Hakları Bağlamında Bir Bakış: HAYTAP Örneğinde Bir İnceleme

“…Gökaliler ve Saatçioğlu (2019), dijital aktivizm olgusuna odaklandıkları çalışmalarında, ünlülerin dijital ortamlarda gerçekleştirmiş oldukları aktivist faaliyetlerle geniş kitlelere ulaşarak gönüllülerin motivasyonunu ve ilgili konularda farkındalığı arttırmak için çaba sarf ettiklerini tespit etmişlerdir.…”

“…Tüm bunlardan yola çıkarak çalışmada, sosyal medya ortamları aracılığıyla gerçekleştirilen dijital aktivizm olgusuna hayvan hakları aktivizmi özelinde bir yaklaşım sergilenmekte, konu HAYTAP örneğinde ve ilgili sivil toplum kuruluşunun Instagram hesabı üzerinden ele alınmaktadır. Literatürde, sosyal medya ortamları aracılığıyla gerçekleştirilen aktivist hareketlerin incelendiği çalışmalar olmasına rağmen (Waters ve Jones 2011;Lovejoy ve Saxton 2012;Aksulu, 2013;Saxton ve Wang 2014;Yegen, 2014;Guo ve Saxton, 2014;Melki ve Mallat, 2014;Saatçioğlu, 2017;Tani ve Taşkıran, 2018;Aji, 2019;Fermanoğlu, 2019;Gökaliler ve Saatçioğlu, 2019) hayvan hakları aktivizmini Instagram üzerinden inceleyen bir çalışmaya rastlanmamıştır. Kullanım oranı yüksek ve popüler bir mecra olan Instagram üzerinden hayvan hakları aktivizminin araştırılmasının literatüre katkı sağlayacağı düşünülmektedir.…”