Public Relations In The Networked Publics

In the study conducted by Duygu Aydın and M. Safa Çam titled “Data Storytelling and Digital Visualization”, the importance of data storytelling was tried to be revealed. The competitive nature of modern marketing urges businesses to take vigorous actions within a data-based approach. In such a market environment, communicating emotionally with consumers has become insufficient. Instead, companies are seeking ways to turn real data and information into value through emotional links that would attract consumers. In this context, data storytelling offers businesses a storytelling model with substantial communicative value. In the digital age, brands give priority to share a visual story rather than providing raw statistical data to stakeholders in their communication efforts conducted both online and in traditional media. Thus, enterprises acting with a value-based approach have been in search of establishing emotional bonds in the light of causal data with their target groups. Companies working within this point of view have been in search of creating emotional relationships with their target groups through the causal data. This study discusses the concept of data storytelling as a practical and inspiring communication approach for the marketing discipline and exemplifies it with various efforts by our national brands. In this context, the study will likely be inspiring the profit-oriented businesses as well as public and non-governmental organizations to increase the communication value of data they already have.

In the study conducted by B. Oğuz Aydin and Ceren Yegen, titled “A Current and Capitalist Consumption Myth: Black Friday”, the role of media in consumption, capitalism and consumption processes was discussed. In the research part of the study, the Black Friday Network on Twitter, a popular social network today, was investigated through the social network analysis method. Thus, obtained through the data, it was aimed at developing a current perspective towards the new media-based/assisted capitalist consumption phenomenon.

The study, conducted by Yasin Bulduklu titled “Unexpected Events in Health Institutions and Digital Public Relations”, aimed to reveal the importance of public digital communication which is vital in delivering healthcare in the potential negative circumstances. In this context, communication and especially public digital communication, which are likely to bring the institutions into a difficult situation, are the subject of this section. In this context, communication and especially public digital communication, which are vital in delivering health care in the potential negative circumstances, is the subject of this section. This section contains information about the digital management of communication in some undesirable and sudden occurrences that can lead institutions to an undesirable situation, information about the effective management of communication through digital platforms in the cases of crisis.

In the study conducted by Özlem Duğan titled “Examining E-Complaints against Airline Companies in Terms of Public Relations”, particularly the complaints were investigated that were made on the “sikayetvar” website, a complaint platform. The study is comprised of strategic issue management, issue management concerning public relations and the implementation parts. In this study, the complaints about four airline companies were investigated. The names of the airline companies were not mentioned; instead, they were coded as company-1, company-2, company-3 and company-4. The data obtained from the mentioned website were analyzed through the content analysis method. The obtained analysis results were evaluated in the findings section.

In the study conducted by Mustafa Güngör titled “The Use of New Media for Digital Public Relations: The Case of Konya Universities”, a content analysis of the social media accounts of the universities in Konya was carried out, and it was attempted to find out which social media tools are essentially preferred by the universities in the relations with their public. On the other hand, it was attempted to understand which social media platform is used more effectively by those following the social media accounts of the universities. Furthermore, within the scope of the study, it was examined under the title of which public relations models of Grunig and Hunt (1984) the social media accounts of universities fall and it was attempted to find out how much importance the universities attach to the two-way communication, the main purpose of public relations in communication.

In the study conducted by Salih Gürbüz titled “The Use of Digital Storytelling as a Public Relations Tool for Corporate Reputation: The Sample of Tat Gıda Farmer Stories”, it was studied how storytelling in public relations literature can be practiced in digital environment. This study samples a work of eight videos named “Tat Farmer Stories” released on the corporate website of Tat Gıda corporation, which is prominent to be aiming primarily the female consumers but has a Turkey-wide recognition at the national level. The researcher conducted his study in three analysis steps. In the analysis of these digital stories, together with the research questions prepared by the researcher mentioned in the method section, five questions used in the narrative theory during persuasion activity and to analyze these persuasion activities are utilized to examine the use of the stories for public relations purposes. The answers to these questions were addressed through qualitative content analysis. In addition, assessments regarding the corporation’s reputation are done considering Davies and Chun’s 7-dimensional Corporate Character Scale, which is used for reputation measurement. According to the results of the study, digital storytelling can contribute to the reputations of corporations that permanently need to be kept alive.

In the study conducted by Aydın Karabulut titled “Independent and Nonverbal Postmodern Relationship Forms in the Network Age”, the researcher stated that all the great narratives have been shaken in the late modern age and, thanks to the techno-science, the world has been transformed into a new and fast cycle. The network phenomenon has changed the daily life according to its own rules by qualifying all the fields. The daily life has been divided into different fragments such as online and offline. The fragmentation has been primarily formed by the erosion of the values. While the erosion in values has been manifested in the daily life, especially cross-over encounters, loveless relationships and the use values of the people have become norm. This new life also marks a new ontology in which the indicators are extensively consumed, and the cyclical time is rapidly elapsed. In this study, the relation forms changed have been discussed from different perspectives specific to “fi” series. In the analysis of the series, Semiography and discourse analysis have been used.

In the study conducted by Deniz Özer titled “Organizations’ Use of Social Media from the Perspective of Dialogical Communicatıon and Marketing-Oriented Public Relations”, the researcher aimed to reveal the extent of use of social media and its efficiency in dialogical communication, and marketing-oriented public relations efforts emerged from the communication forms of organizations as a result of the technology-based change. Özer, in her study selected Facebook, Twitter and Instagram accounts of an organization as the sample of the study and aimed to examine areas concerning marketing-oriented public relations application fields through the principles and properties of dialogical communication by means of content analysis method, and a holistic result was aimed to be achieved. In this study, the public relations, marketing and advertising activities of the organizations in the digital media and their target audiences were discussed together with their continuing efforts to perform communication cycles on this platform; thus, results were obtained concerning the marketing-oriented public relations efforts.

The conceptual framework of the study, which was conducted by Şakire Özkan and Birgül Taşdelen titled “How Twitter Was Used during the 2018 Presidential Election by the Candidates in Turkey Image Creation in the Context of Dramaturgy Theory”, is the concept of Gofmann’s dramaturgy. The purpose of the study in the 2018 presidential election process in Turkey is to measure how they create an image by self-presentation of the candidates on Twitter. For this purpose, the candidates’ tweets on Twitter during the selection process are examined and evaluated as a result of content analysis findings which are qualitative research techniques.

The developments in newer communication technologies provided many opportunities to businesses in recent years; one of these opportunities is the use of social media applications. Today, like many organizations, banks use social media to communicate with their public. Ahmet Tarhan’s study titled “Social Media Presence of Banks in Terms of Public Relations: The Example of Ziraat Bank, İş Bank, and Kuveyt Türk Participation Bank” focuses on Twitter utilization levels of a public, a private and a participation bank, using a sample of data obtained between January 1, 2019 and March 31, 2019. In this research study, which used the content analysis method, it was questioned how the banks used their Twitter accounts in informing their customers, developing responses to their demands, expectations, suggestions, questions and problems, and involving them in their decision-making processes. Through the analysis, it was aimed to determine whether the banks sufficiently benefited from the two-way communication ability that is provided by the Twitter.