Discursive Patterns of Opinion-Based Knowledge in the Production of Health-Related Social Media Posts in Turkey

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.15847/obsOBS17520232596

Abstract

Online media platforms play a central role in presenting opinions, facilitating information exchange, and supporting knowledge production. However, on most social media platforms, verifying the credibility of posts and comments remains highly challenging due to their open nature and lack of a strong governance structure. At the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, social media platforms became tainted by uncertain knowledge, partly caused by the limited control these platforms have over user-generated content. This lack of credible information fueled a collective state of panic (Peschke, 2021). Since social media spaces largely involve individuals engaging and sharing their opinions, the credibility of knowledge production on these platforms must be questioned. Despite the proliferation of disinformation, uncertainty, and misinformation on social media platforms (Wardle & Derakhshan, 2017), opinion-based knowledge production has also emerged from these channels, which are challenging to monitor. This article analyzes the communication patterns on health of Turkish posts and comments on Facebook and Twitter during October and November 2021. The data were evaluated against opinion-based content, allowing this study to trace the dynamics of posts and comments by categorizing them as opinion, information, or knowledge production. Data interpretation is grounded in these classifications, with particular attention to the interplay between public engagement and health information. Understanding how the media-based public creates opinion-based knowledge during the uncertainty of the COVID-19 pandemic underscores the potential for collaboration between media-based publics and scientific authorities.

 

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Published

2024-11-13

How to Cite

Peschke, L., Gümüş Ağca, Y., & Dündar, I. (2024). Discursive Patterns of Opinion-Based Knowledge in the Production of Health-Related Social Media Posts in Turkey. Observatorio (OBS*), 17(5). https://doi.org/10.15847/obsOBS17520232596

Issue

Special Issue (2023) Platformisation of News and Interactions: Regional Contexts of Crisis in Trust

Section

Special Issue 2024

License

Copyright (c) 2024 Lutz Peschke, Yasemin Gümüş Ağca, Irmak Dündar Observatorio (OBS*) has an academic journal profile. As such, it is dedicated to the open exchange of its contents, and freely available to individuals and institutions without charge or formal permission. Copies of this journal or articles in this journal may be distributed for research or educational purposes free of charge and without permission. Authors will not be charged for publication or submission to this journal. Authors who publish in Observatorio (OBS*) will release their contributions under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-2.0 generic. This licence allows anyone to copy and distribute the article for non-commercial purposes provided that appropriate attribution is given - being the author the copyright holder. This journal utilizes the LOCKSS system to create a distributed archiving system among participating libraries and permits those libraries to create permanent archives of the journal for purposes of preservation and restoration. The publisher perpetually authorizes participants in the LOCKSS system to archive and restore our publication through the LOCKSS System for the benefit of all LOCKSS System participants. Specifically participating libraries may: • Collect and preserve currently accessible materials; • Use material consistent with original license terms; • Provide copies to other LOCKSS appliances for purposes of audit and repair. Fair use of a copyrighted work, for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching (including multiple copies for classroom use), scholarship, or research, is not an infringement of copyright. In determining whether the use made of a work in any particular case is a fair use the factors to be considered shall include: 1. the purpose and character of the use, including whether such use is of a commercial nature or is for nonprofit educational purposes; 2. the nature of the copyrighted work; 3. the amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole; & 4. the effect of the use upon the potential market for or value of the copyrighted work. The fact that a work is unpublished shall not itself bar a finding of fair use if such finding is made upon consideration of all the above factors. In accord with these provisions, the OBS journal believes in the vigorous assertion and defense of Fair Use by scholars engaged in academic research, teaching and non-commercial publishing. Thus, we view the inclusion of “quotations” from existing print, visual, audio and audio-visual texts to be appropriate examples of Fair Use, as are reproductions of visual images for the purpose of scholarly analysis. We encourage authors to obtain appropriate permissions to use materials originally produced by others, but do not require such permissions as long as the usage of such materials falls within the boundaries of Fair Use.