Digital Future

Tamer BAYRAK

Arzu Özsoy states that individuals use digital tools and channels more than ever during the Covid-19 pandemic period in her chapter titled “Excessive Digitalization Causing Digital Diseases and Postural Problems in New World Order during Post Corona.” In the extremely isolated living conditions where new social rules are applied due to different types of pandemic measures and social distance rules in every country around the world, user behaviors and digital habits have also begun to differentiate and intensify within the scope of pandemic measures. In many different countries in the global arena, individuals from different ages and socioeconomic groups started to share on their social media accounts that they had problems such as binge-watching, excessive digitalization, and excessive online shopping during quarantine restrictions. In addition to the various physical and psychological diseases resulted by excessive digital media use, individuals also experience visible positive and negative changes in their lives. In this study, Özsoy puts forward an overview of individual and social changes within the context of health communication, digitalization of health services, digital diseases in the new normal world, and provides solutions to these problems.

Ayten Övür states that the contents and scripts of the TV series we watch on TV show differences with the changing governments in her chapter titled “Ideological Reproduction in TV Series in the Context of the Relationship between Politics and Entertainment.” Each period has created its own language and discourse. Screenwriters were also influenced by the dominant culture and governing power while creating their stories and establishing their language. The governments, on the other hand, have had the opportunity to reflect their own ideologies and ideas to the public by using the power and influence of the TV series. While religious motives were rarely shown in TV series after 1980 in Turkey, these motives began to be shown in popular TV series during the times when conservative ideology came to power. And governments, realizing the importance of the culture industry, tried to announce their various projects to the public through TV series. Övür examined the sharp transformations in TV series in her work.

In his chapter titled “Misuse of New Media Channels: Determining Increased Technology Addiction, Damages and Remedies during the Pandemic Process in Nursery-Aged Children,” Başar Babataş suggests that one of the indispensable elements of daily life is the use of technology. The widespread use of technology has brought various problems, and left humans a new struggle to deal with. It is called “Technology Addiction” or “Digital Addiction” today, and it affects many people “regardless of their age.” In fact, the nongovernmental organization “Yeşilay” that’s been fighting against various types of addiction for many years has classified “excessive technology use” as a type of addiction like smoking, alcohol, and drug addiction, and has taken serious steps in the fight against it. Although technology addiction is seen at all ages, it is rapidly becoming widespread especially among children in school and nursery period due to the restrictions and obligations brought by the pandemic period (moving away from the school and nursery environment, curfews, being have to individualize, online education, etc.). In his study based on “Information Theory,” Bababataş examined the effects of technology addiction on preschool children and the precautions to be taken during the pandemic period, with the method of focus group.

Cansu Özdenak Kandemir suggests that the digital revolution has transformed the information and mass society into a network society in her work: “Child Audience in the Semantic Digital of Future.” For the prosumer child, who is a member of the network society, traditional television and contents were also affected; undergoing changes and transformations. The new age prosumer child, who has a digital self as well as an offline self, now has his/her television as self-screen. The self-screen is the new child’s own screen and media, but more importantly, it is the tool by which the digital self is expressed and presented. The prosumer child can produce content with semantic digital perception. When the transformation process from traditional television broadcasting to digital technology is examined, it should be taken into account that the possibilities brought by the digital revolution, and the social and psychological structures it has changed. Özdenak Kandemir conducted in-depth face-to-face interviews in order to reveal the change and transformation in the child audience and content, and analyzed the answers given by the leading experts in the field. The characteristic of the prosumer child, his/her relationship with traditional and new media, the positive and negative consequences of this relationship, and the production features of the contents to be produced in the future fiction are put forward.

In his chapter titled “Robot Journalism as an Example of Artificial Intelligence in Communication Studies,” Deniz Yengin states that human beings are social beings and that socialization comes from being able to communicate. From ancient times to the present, this socialization process has continued on its way by constantly renewing and updating itself. During that process, sometimes boundaries have disappeared, and sometimes spaces. Accordingly, we are now mentioning a digitalization phenomenon that heavily influences and touches every aspect of our lives. Half the world’s population uses social networks with mobile technologies. There are four billion social network citizens and it is much easier to reach those people than ever before. In this context, the digital form of socialization is now common. And in Turkey, there are 55 million active mobile social network users. In 5 years, that number will most likely correspond to the entire population. In addition, social media is used for an average of 2 hours and 51 minutes per day in Turkey. At the moment, technological innovation of artificial intelligence also contributes to the production of content without the individual. In his work, Yengin critically questions artificial intelligence technology in the journey of the message in the communication process.

In his work titled “Digital Communication during the Covid-19 Process: Interpersonal Communication, Social Media, E-Mail, Mobile Communication Applications, and Online Meetings,” Hüseyin Kazan argues that the social, political, economic, technological transformations, and natural threats experienced by societies also affect the life practices, behaviors, relationships, and communication of individuals with each other. One of the most recent and important examples of this is the health threat all humans face with the Covid-19. Following the coronavirus pandemic, lockdowns forced people to carry out all the business processes from home, hence increasing the share of digital communication. The digitalization of communication and the communication of individuals using more than one mobile communication application have not only changed the perception of interpersonal communication but also led to changes in the communication styles of individuals. Kazan expresses that this situation is merely the beginning point of his study. The study, which aims to reveal the changing perception of communication in individuals with the pandemic, focuses on interpersonal communication, social media, mobile communication applications, and online meetings.

In her chapter titled “Evaluation of the Distance Education for Primary School Students in Covid-19 Period,” İpek Ünlü states that students’ habits have completely changed as a result of the interruption of the traditional classroom education in Turkey as well as in the rest of the world. Consequently, students had to keep up with the distance education (online education) system with which they were not familiar before. With the development of new communication technologies, virtual classroom environments are created through online platforms, and courses and exams are conducted through these channels. However, due to the difficult process we are in, students may encounter some problems in online education. It can be more difficult for primary school students to adapt to change, especially compared to high school and university students. In this study, it is firstly mentioned how distance education has changed from past to present. Following the Covid-19 isolation, the transition from the traditional education model to the “online education” system, which is the latest form of distance education, has occurred. And the positive and negative effects of this system for students were emphasized in the study.

In her chapter titled “3D Printers as a Transformative Technology in the Context of Women Empowerment,” Müge Öztunç mentions women who are interested in 3D printers. Öztunç examines how women can interact with this technology with the introduction of 3D printers, which are considered to be one of the most important technologies of the third industrial revolution. It is discussed how the life of the subject, who is repositioned as a prosumer, entrepreneur, and creative producer, can alter through 3D printer technology. While the importance of women’s creative and collectivist actions for the benefit of society and discovering new ways of thinking is examined through women’s initiatives in this sector and those who use this technology individually, the potential role of 3D printing technologies in mobilizing women for the benefit of entrepreneurship and society has been evaluated through the “maker movements” that emerged during the Covid-19 pandemic process.

In his chapter titled “Future of the Film Education after Pandemic,” Okan Ormanlı examined the situation of cinema education, which is generally given within the Faculties of Communication and Fine Arts in Turkey, before, during, and after the pandemic, as well as its future position with the effect of digitalization. In the process carried out by YÖK (Council of Higher Education) on a national scale, cinema education that had been given traditionally for approximately 50 years was given as a distance education for the first time. Within this context, cinema education, which is supposed to be practice oriented, needs re-planning in the short, medium, and long term because of the pandemic. The objective of this study, which will be carried out with a qualitative method with a literature review, is to contribute to the field of cinema.

In their chapter titled “Corporate Digital Public Relations within the Context of Excellence Theory,” Sebahat Özkan and And Algül comprehensively examine the importance of digitalization for corporate public relations for the private sector and for corporate communication in the public sector in the context of James E. Grunig’s theory of excellence. The literature review method was used in the study. Regarding the subject of the study, books, articles, and theses written from the past to the present about the theory of excellence in terms of corporate public relations, digitalization, technology, and corporate communication have been used. The study aims to present a different perspective to businesses that continue their activities in the private and public sectors and to academicians who plan to conduct research on corporate communication.

In her chapter titled “From Traditional to Digital: The Transformation of Cultural Representations in Turkish TV Series,” Selin Kiraz Demir states that with the development of new communication technologies, online televisions have become an important part of daily life. Along with these developments, there have been changes in the format and content of TV series in Turkey. Considering the effects of cultural representations in TV series on the audience, TV series broadcast in traditional media are mostly shaped within the framework of the dominant culture. In this study, the transformation in Turkish TV series was analyzed based on the differences between traditional and digital concepts. The TV series named Kırmızı Oda, which was broadcasted in the traditional media, and Bir Başkadır, which was broadcasted on online television, were selected as samples and analyzed by the method of cultural analysis. Additionally, the cultural structure represented by the characters in the TV series and its possible effects on the audience were tried to be explained.

In their chapter titled “Social Media Use in Public Relations Practices: An Application in the Construction Industry in Turkey,” Sibel Danyıldız and Tuğçe Çedikçi Çevik state that the use of social media is crucial for public relations practitioners in three aspects: presentation, communication, and performance. In this study, researchers examine the influence of social media use in public relations activities. Public relations activities carried out on various social media platforms can be used effectively to determine short-term trends in the general public. Social media activities use digital storytelling techniques that are both immersive and emotional and also supporting various forms of content sharing. These stories include members of the target audience in at least one form of open-ended offline interaction that includes sharing behaviors, and the content is optimized for mobile screens and controls. This study is supported by researches that reveal that public relations practitioners have different platforms to showcase their ideas and activities, while also having direct conversations with the public, receiving immediate feedback and building relationships with them.

In his chapter titled “A Critical Investigation on the Issue of Digital Surveillance and Social Control during and after Covid-19 Pandemic,” Şakir Eşitti states that new communication technologies play an important role in the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic. He also suggests that surveillance practices implemented through new communication technologies due to the pandemic also bring along important concerns in the context of individual freedoms and privacy. During the Covid-19 pandemic, location information obtained through smartphone applications, use of social media, contact tracking applications via smartphones, tracking the movements of a patient or a potential patient, contact tracking, data analysis in data networks, and the use of drones have provided greater surveillance opportunities than ever before in history. In such an environment, individuals become voluntary participants in surveillance in order to survive, while their freedom of communication and personal privacy are negatively affected. In the study, the possible consequences of the data collection and surveillance practices used worldwide during the Covid-19 pandemic in terms of individuals and societies were discussed, the surveillance methods used by the states in the fight against the pandemic were determined, and the consequences of their continuation were revealed.

In the chapter titled “A New Alternative Media Model for the Future: Digital Fanzines,” Tolga Kara and Necmi Emel Dilmen put forward that with the digitalization of the media and the increase in the new media environment, there has been a rapid change and transformation in the broadcast process and content. According to the researchers, this transformation occurs especially in magazines. Leading contents of that kind are digital magazines and fanzines. The revolutionary change in the digital age had an impact on the subculture fanzine. Fanzines that are photocopied and reflect the thoughts of the author aim to reach individuals with the same mentality rather than mass circulation. In this study, the transformation of digital fanzines from traditional magazines and the advantages and disadvantages of digital magazines and fanzines are examined. Due to the inadequacy of national studies on fanzine, this chapter has been examined in order to contribute to comprehensive studies in this field.

As the researches suggest, in addition to the effects of new media technologies on the user, the approach of the institutions, corporations, and organizations that use this technology to the target individuals are also examined. It is a known fact that making daily situation determinations, recording them, and then distributing them are crucial in order to predict the future in scientific studies. This book provides scientific assessments, warnings, and future predictions in the context of local and global codes to anticipate the digital future. As Mustafa Kemal Atatürk’s words below suggest, to build a healthy future and to not fall behind, we need to understand the future first: “Science is the only true guide in life.”

Asst. Prof. Dr. Tamer BAYRAK

İstanbul Aydın University

Head of Department of New Media and Communication

July 2021