Candidates' Use of New Media and Social Media as Technology Tools in the TRNC 2020 Presidential Election Process

 

ABSTRACT

New communication technologies express the transformation of traditional communication technologies in parallel with technological development. New media tools, such as propaganda tools in political elections, have become widespread in recent years. The use of social media in political elections has gained significant importance in recent years. Social media platforms provide an environment where political campaigns, candidates and voters can interact, and information sharing occurs quickly and widely. Candidates and political parties use social media platforms to deliver campaign messages, announce their policies, and communicate with voters. Through visual and written content, videos, live broadcasts and posts, candidates directly interact with voters and mobilize their supporters. Social media is an effective tool for spreading political propaganda and reaching large audiences with political information. Candidates and their supporters share various social media content to influence voters, defend their policies and persuade voters. Social media platforms gauge voters' opinions and preferences through surveys and feedback. Candidates and political parties seek feedback on social media to identify voters' expectations and concerns, shape their campaigns accordingly, and improve their policies. TRNC 2020 Presidential Elections is an essential topic for political science and international relations thesis studies. These elections provide a rich source for examining the political atmosphere of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, the election process, competition between candidates, election results, and political transformations. By discussing the use of social media in the 2020 TRNC Presidential elections, this research examined how the candidates used social media channels and what the reflections were by revealing the political communication languages of the propaganda and the differences it created in social perception. Qualitative research methods and scanning models will be used in the research. The candidates' use of social media in the 2020 TRNC Presidential elections was examined with their propaganda languages and statistics obtained in new media.