Positive Determinism of Twitter Usage Development in Crisis Communication: Rescue and Relief Efforts after the 6 February 2023 Earthquake in Türkiye as a Case Study

Yasmin Aldamen () and Edna Hacimic
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Yasmin Aldamen: New Media and Communication Department, School of Communication, Ibn Haldun University, Istanbul 34480, Türkiye
Edna Hacimic: New Media and Communication Department, School of Communication, Ibn Haldun University, Istanbul 34480, Türkiye

Social Sciences, 2023, vol. 12, issue 8, 1-37

Abstract: This study examined the impact of Twitter usage development in crisis communication in Türkiye during the 6 February 2023 by showing the development of its use during the 1999 Izmit and 2000 Izmir earthquakes. As well as its usage in the 48 h following the 2023 earthquake. It found that Twitter’s positive determinism has evolved over time from gathering information to actively supporting victims’ rescue. Twitter was crucial for finding casualties and providing on-the-ground updates during critical moments, confirming the media’s surveillance function. During the first 48 h of the 2023 earthquake, Twitter significantly affected the rescue and relief activities, enabling individuals trapped beneath the debris to contact, seek, and receive assistance. Twitter’s importance has increased in political communication by opinion leaders and government authorities, and President Erdoğan’s engagement via Twitter was critical in expressing solidarity and coordinating rescue and relief efforts. This study concluded that Twitter has become an indispensable tool for obtaining and disseminating information, as well as aiding and identifying individuals in need. It was widely used by official accounts, informational accounts, and citizens, and effectively aiding rescue and relief efforts, especially in the first 48 h after the disaster.

Keywords: crisis communication; Türkiye; Twitter; social media; technological determinism; Türkiye–Syria 2023 earthquake; relief and aid; disasters and crises; AFAD; artificial intelligence (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: A B N P Y80 Z00 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
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