Analysis of Social Networks on Multiculturalism: Youtube Reaction Videos Cover Image

Sosyal Ağlarda Çokkültürlülük Üzerine İnceleme: Youtube Tepki Videoları
Analysis of Social Networks on Multiculturalism: Youtube Reaction Videos

Author(s): Cansu Yücel, Ümit Sari
Subject(s): Media studies, Culture and social structure , Social differentiation, Social Informatics, Sociology of Culture, Globalization
Published by: SD Yayınevi
Keywords: Social Sciences; Social Networks; Globalization; Multiculturalism; YouTube;

Summary/Abstract: Multiculturalism is one of the most important concepts brought about by the disappearance of borders in the geographical and cultural areas, the acceleration of mobility and information flow in the international arena, and especially in the 20th century. The concept of multiculturalism, which has the ideals of preventing racism and discrimination, increasing tolerance and sensitivity towards differences and providing intercultural interaction, has been moved to a different dimension at the point where today's world has come. Multiculturalism serves cultural processes by gaining meaning in internet environments as a field that allows cultural construction processes to take place. The study aims to contribute to the definition of the concept of multiculturalism at the level of state policies as well as its definition in the digital field. In this direction, it is aimed to reveal the contribution of multiculturalism with examples via YouTube, one of the most used social networks worldwide. On YouTube, the channel containing the reactions of a user of different cultures by watching Turkish music videos and examples from this channel were analyzed using content analysis method. Structured Abstract: The most common interpretation of globalization is the idea that the world has become more homogeneous and standardized through a technological, commercial and cultural synchronization spreading from the West, and that globalization is connected with modernity. Globalization, which is frequently discussed today, is a comprehensive concept that is based on geographical discoveries and extends to the state it has taken under the influence of today's technological developments. In today's world, globalization has turned into a way of life and has become the normal of our daily lives. Globalization in general; the disappearance of national borders, allowing the free movement of goods, services and cultures around the world. Robertson says that globalization is centered around two main orientations. While the first refers to economic interdependence, the other refers to the globalization of institutions, communities and practices (2013: 136). Globalization includes several dimensions. The cultural dimension is among the most important of these. The cultural dimension of globalization can be considered within the scope of transportation, communication and communication as a result of its economic basis. The fact that different parts of the world are in contact with economic purposes has allowed different cultures to get to know each other, and cultures that include small groups to be noticed. Intercultural interaction has reached a high level with digital communication channels. The cultural dimension of globalization has led to the emergence of various concepts. Multiculturalism is one of these concepts. Multiculturalism, as a system of thought, defines the fair promotion of different cultures in the public sphere and the peaceful coexistence of different cultural communities within the same political organization (Dotycheva, 2009:12). In the digital age we live in, every field has a multicultural structure. The fact that communication tools enable universal communication has led to the emergence of social networks. The borderless structure of social networks directly serves multiculturalism. Youtube, chosen as the subject of analysis of the study, is a social network that is visited and content is produced by millions of people around the world. Cultural content is also produced on YouTube, where all kinds of videos can be shared. It allows a culture to introduce itself and spread it from various aspects. It does this effectively with the power of visuality. By accessing the content on this network from all over the world, it is possible to watch videos, obtain information, give feedback and contribute to the expansion of the content by producing. YouTube's “Kingdom of Luke” channel, chosen as the field of study, shows its experiences about different cultures by watching music clips from different countries. While creating content, it does a preliminary research about the video to watch instead of just watching. Considering the five videos selected as a sample, 60% of the videos explain the content and give information about the song. It gives information about the song genre in 40% of the videos. Explains the musical genres that have their own characteristics as “anthem” and “folk song” and indicates their characteristics. The channel owner gives information about the singers in 100% of the videos. Explain what kind of music the singers make, their life, their place and importance in Turkish music. In this way, he gets information about the culture he is foreign to through the artists. It gives historical information on 60% of the pieces. The channel owner makes inferences about culture in 60% of the videos he examines. All of these videos are pieces with historical content. He states that as a result of his viewing experience, he was influenced by pieces with historical content and shared a sense of victory and struggle. This shows that even though it is experienced by different societies, all world rights can develop common feelings in situations such as war, destruction and victory. There are Turkish and English comments in all of the videos and in the comments under the video. This shows that besides being watched by users from Turkey, it is watched by different cultures or that users use the universal language English to appeal to all cultures. Thanks to the video content, a content producer from a different culture gained knowledge as a result of his researches and impressions about the culture he is foreign to; It has made them accessible to millions of people by publishing them on the most used video sharing site all over the world. Many people had the opportunity to access this video, and those who watched the content had the opportunity to have information about Turkish culture. These contents, which contribute to the multicultural structure in the digital field, contribute to the empathy of different cultures with each other and to develop positive thoughts about culture; It emphasizes love and respect by preventing racism and discrimination.

  • Issue Year: 7/2021
  • Issue No: 13
  • Page Range: 681-702
  • Page Count: 22
  • Language: Turkish