THE EFFECTS OF INTERACTIONS IN VIRTUAL COMMUNITIES ON SOCIAL MEDIA IN THE SHAPING AND REPRODUCING OF CULTURAL MEMORY, NEIGHBORHOOD IDENTITY, AND CULTURE

Abstract

This study aims to reveal the effect of virtual communities in social media on the reproduction of cultural memory, neighborhood identity, and culture. Another aim of the study is to investigate the potential of virtual communities to shape cultural memory, continuity, and social structure and to discuss the impact of individuals who can actively produce and share content in virtual communities on neighborhood identity and neighborhood culture. For this purpose, three research questions were put forward. RQ1: “How does interaction occur in social media, different from communities in the physical environment?” RQ2: “How are cultural memory, neighborhood culture, and identity rebuilt and shaped in the context of communication and interaction that emerges in social media virtual communities?” RQ3: “In virtual communities in social media, what is the potential of subcultures to influence or contribute to communities on a macro scale with the resulting interaction?” The theoretical approach of the research consists of Mead (2019), the representative of symbolic interactionism, and Goffman's (1978) self-society relationship with the presentation of the Self. In addition, cultural memory, neighborhood identity and culture, and the concept of the virtual community were mentioned, and the coding made for the research was directed in this direction. As a sample for the study, comments were obtained on the Tatavla'dan Kurtuluş’a virtual community on Facebook between 30 May and 30 December 2022 (n:1134), and these comments were analyzed by Van Dijk's discourse analysis method. According to the findings, the communities formed by the coming together of the selves in the micro context ensure the continuity of the neighborhood identity and culture that has been eroded in the virtual environment. However, the impact of these communities on face-to-face relations and institutions remains limited.