Digital Pride on the Streets of the Internet: Facebook and Twitter Practices of the LGBTI Movement in Turkey

Abstract

LGBTI groups in Turkey glided from offline media to online media. This study investigates how the LGBTI movement changed utilizing social networking sites (SNS) and what kind of a communication culture has been established in the context of social movements of this transformation caused by SNS in Turkey. Triangulation methodology is used in this paper. Semi-structured interviews were performed with the administrators of LGBTI movement communities’ Facebook and Twitter pages, an online questionnaire was made with the page followers, and a non-reactive observation was made concerning SNS posts of the pages during Pride Week, which is the most important annual public sphere event of the movement. Communication practices that SNS provide to the LGBTI movement groups and use of these practices are interpreted and analyzed through collected data. This study has shown that the LGBTI movement in Turkey uses SNS as a space of action effectively with collective action, centralizes SNS with their actions and moves the new social movements’ features to the Internet as a way of enhancing its exposure in the public sphere.