Social Media in Southeast Turkey

Why We Post

by Elisabetta Costa

This book is available as a free open access PDF from ucl.ac.uk/ucl-press. Print copies are also available.

This book presents an ethnographic study of social media in Mardin, a medium-sized town close to the Syrian-Turkish border inhabited mainly by Sunni Muslim Arabs and Kurds, that has been transformed in recent years by urbanisation, neoliberalism and political events.

Elisabetta Costa explains why public-facing social media is more conservative than offline life. Yet, at the same time, social media has opened up unprecedented possibilities for private communications between genders and in relationships among young people. She also shows why an ethnography reveals a very different picture of political participation on social media than has been reported by other studies.

This book is available as a free open access PDF from ucl.ac.uk/ucl-press. Print copies are also available.

210 pages, Paperback

First published February 28, 2016

About the author

Elisabetta Costa is Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the British Institute at Ankara (BIAA). She is an anthropologist specializing in the study of digital media, social media, journalism, politics and gender in Turkey and the Middle East.

Reviews

[Ilaria · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was not the easiest read, to be honest. It took me some pages to get into the right mindset to read it, but I eventually did, and I'd say I rather enjoyed it. It was my first attempt at etnographical studies, but this didn't prevent me at all from understanding the content of the book, since the language it is written in is simple and clear, although in some parts it was quite redundant.
Reading how social media is used and perceived in a Turkish city was actually more interesting than I though it would have been, and I could find some common points with how social media is used in my area (and some differences too, and that comparison made the reading experience a lot more interactive and stimulating).
I think this book would be a nice read for everyone who wants to discover a completely different culture through the filter of something familiar to both worlds such as social media.

Disclaimer: I received this book through a Goodreads giveaway

[Erkan Saka · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good old ethnography. Besides, by focusing on Mardin, the author goes beyond most of the studies that take place in major cities of Turkey. It extends our understanding of social media usage in Turkey.

[Keri · Rating 3 out of 5]

With today's society and our available social media's, this sheds light on how things work in a town in Turkey with Arabs and Kurds. A lot of tedious research was performed by Elisabetta Costa about why social media is more conservative than real life. At the same time, it shows that love, intimacy, and relationships have opened up and are a growing trend in Mardin. This was a great eye opener from across the world. It was a different read for me, not something I would pick off the shelf, however it was a great informational book!