A FORESIGHT ABOUT CONTENT PRODUCED ON SOCIAL MEDIA IN TURKEY FROM THE COMMUNICATORS' PERSPECTIVE: FOCUS GROUP STUDY ON TIKTOK

Abstract

As a social media tool that attracts attention and tries to gain a place for itself among the developing and changing platforms, TikTok is the subject of many news, conversations and research. TikTok application, which is seen as a danger by many, finds itself a wide place in the Turkish and world press. This research is based on the prejudiced attitude towards the TikTok platform, which is especially evaluated for the younger generation and raises concerns. The study tries to reveal the reason for the prejudice against TikTok in Turkey and to provide a foresight. In this context, it has been tried to answer the questions of why the participants are prejudiced against TikTok, what prevents them from using TikTok, and whether the participant's views differ between professionals and students. Focus group interview method was used in order for people to express their ideas as easily as possible both individually and within the community dynamics. Two separate focus group studies were conducted for communication faculty students and communication professionals, and 47 people were interviewed in six focus group meetings, three for students and three for professionals. At the end of the research, the main reasons for the participants' prejudice against TikTok are their inability to make sense of the application, their refrain from the application, especially in terms of children's use, and seeing the application as an exhibitionist, perceiving the application as a waste of time, and especially the content and content producers have also affected this prejudice. In addition to these, the fact that the origin of the application is China has emerged as a reason for prejudice.