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Dutch news article with extended coverage, video’s and photo’s.
How social media break the silence of the Turkish media
(De Volkskrant) – On Twitter, within a few days a vivid archive of photos and updates were formed, mostly from eyewitnesses. The hashtag #direngezipark in recent days was the trending topic on Twitter. And also via the hashtag #Turkish Media messages stream in large numbers on the social media.
One of the users writes: “I have spoken with a family member who for a while was not in the city center. They have no idea what is happening in Turkey right now. Thanks, #TurkishMedia. “Heartfelt words of thanks go out to the major international news channels like CNN (which is separate from CNN Türk), BBC, Al Jazeera and Reuters, who do follow the protests closely. Plenty of criticism for Turkish national media. “You do not need to cover us #Turkish Media,” writes someone on Twitter. “Because the world is following us.”
The Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan has nothing good to say about the news on social media where ‘the best lies found’. He called the social media ‘the greatest threat to society.”
The prime minister is currently on a working visit to Morocco and North African countries. In Algeria today and tomorrow protesters await Turkish Prime Minister’s arrival in Tunisia.
Turkey’s Twitter “curse” by Andrew Leonard
(Salon) – When I finally reached Zeynep Tufekci on the phone Monday morning she sounded both harried and excited. The University of North Carolina professor is currently a fellow at the Center for Information Technology at Princeton, where she specializes in the intersection of social media and the political process. She also happens to be a native of Turkey.
The outburst of a massive protest in Istanbul over the weekend, fueled by Twitter and Facebook, hit her right where she lives, both personally and academically. On Saturday, she posted an insightful analysis of the events taking place in Turkey on her own blog. By Monday, her phone was ringing off the hook, even as she tried to keep up with the startling events in her home country.
Turkey’s Erdogan takes on protesters… and Twitter
(France24) – As protesters clashed with the police in several Turkish cities, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan blasted Twitter, calling the social media site a “menace”. But the Turkish leader may have to eat his words – on Twitter.
As tens of thousands of Turkish citizens took to Twitter over the past few days to find out what was going on in their cities, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan was characteristically blunt about his opinion of the social networking site.
“There is now a menace which is called Twitter,” said Erdogan in an interview with the Turkish daily, Haberturk. “The best examples of lies can be found there. To me, social media is the worst menace to society.”
Embattled world leaders who voice their disdain for the micro-blogging site often do so at their own peril. Within minutes, a collage titled, “Why they hate #twitter,” went viral on the web. The image featured Erdogan and some of the world’s most infamous political and religious leaders warning about the dangers of the social media site.
Will the next revolution be tweeted?
(New Scientist) – The 2011 Arab uprisings proved that while social media sites are effective at spreading the word, armies of well-meaning netizens may not be qualified to handle the hard business of playing the democratic game. But when it comes to mobilizing and bypassing state propaganda, the latest Turkish protests have once again demonstrated that social media sites are a phenomenon that’s difficult to control.
Turkey in particular has a high rate of social media usage. According to a 2012 Pew Research Center study, 35% of Turks use social networking sites, not far below the U.S. with 50% and higher than Japan with 30%.
A report released Saturday by New York University’s Social Media and Political Participation laboratory found 90% of tweets about the Turkish protests originated in Turkey. In contrast, only 30% of the tweets during the 2011 Egyptian revolution originated inside Egypt.