ANALYSIS OF THE STATE-BASED STRATEGIC COMMUNICATION PROCESS IN NEW MEDIA ENVIRONMENTS: INVESTIGATION OF HEALTH AND STRATEGIC COMMUNICATION IN SOCIAL MEDIA IN TURKEY DURING THE COVID-19 EPIDEMIC (original) (raw)

Considering the factors affecting health in contemporary societies, the importance of communication and social media, which is an integral part of communicating as well as social health policies is undeniable. During the COVID-19 global crisis, health-related messages shared by government agencies and administors from social media platforms gained importance. In this context, the main purpose of the research is to determine the strategic communication structures of the Twitter accounts within the social media usage of state institutions, local governments and those working at the head of these units during the COVID-19 epidemic, and to reveal communication and social media strategies prevent information pollution within the scope of combating an existing crisis. For this purpose, the official Twitter posts of the Presidency, the Ministries of Health and Interior, İstanbul, Ankara and İzmir Metropolitan Municipalities, which are responsible for informing the society, and the personal Twitter posts of the relevant ministers and mayors were analyzed by quantitative analysis method. Discourse analysis was carried out in line with the aforementioned social media accounts, the way government institutions handled the crisis, their posts about health officials, and their shares with stakeholders. Then, during the COVID-19 epidemic, a survey was conducted with 1200 people aged 15-64 in NUTS1 12 regions in Turkey by the research company IPSOS, to determine whether the posts made are reflected in the discourses of state institutions and to what extent and through which channels the general public follows these discourses. As a result, in the state-based communication process, that transforms existing data into information, then into knowledge, and finally into a conscious social action, especially in times of crisis, official institutions need individuals who take conscious actions in order to prevent the COVID-19 epidemic. In addition, the social media platform that will be prefered to provide the state-based communication process is of great importance in terms of announcing information, observing social behavior and thoughts, controlling and eliminating rumors, facilitating cooperation with the society and ensuring the flow of resources by building social harmony.