Tiktok as a Political Communication Medium: An Examination of the United Nations

Zindan Çakıcı

Makale detayları

Tiktok as a Political Communication Medium: An Examination of the United Nations

Yazarlar:

Zindan Çakıcı

Yayıncı:

Ankara Hacı Bayram Veli University

Ana Başlıklar:

İletişim Çalışmaları | Sosyal Medya Çalışmaları

Dergi:

İletişim Kuram ve Araştırma Dergisi Issue 69, pp.136-156

Belge Tipi:

Makale

Yayın Tarihi:

3/2025

Belge Dili:

İngilizce

Document ID (Org No.):

2001342706

pISSN:

2147-4524

Anahtar kelimeler:

Özet:

 In contemporary society, TikTok has emerged as a preeminent platform increasingly used by political entities to facilitate the advancement of communication strategies and currently boasts over 1.1 billion active users. The United Nations UN, established in 1945 as a quintessential international political institution, inaugurated an official TikTok account in 2020 in response to the exigencies imposed by the Covid-19 pandemic. An examination of the extant literature reveals a marked paucity of scholarly inquiries critically evaluating the UNs social media communication strategies, particularly a notable dearth of analyses specifically addressing the UNs strategic engagements on TikTok. This study aspires to augment the existing corpus of literature concerning TikToks role in global communication by scrutinizing the UNs communication strategies on this platform. The research entails a content analysis of 287 posts disseminated via the UNs TikTok account from March 31, 2020, to October 26, 2024. The findings elucidate that the UN has adeptly constructed a digital communication strategy characterized by the extensive integration of elements, including subtitles, captions, music, and hashtag within its TikTok posts. Moreover, the analysis indicates that the UN endeavors to transmit salient messages to its audience through a diverse array of audiovisual formats and affective tonalities. However, it is also observed that the UN inadequately addresses the exigencies of marginalized populations on TikTok, manifesting disparities in representational equity for specific demographic cohorts and exhibiting insufficient adherence to the principle of multilingualism. Finally, the UN was found to have a clear bias in its TikTok content regarding global political issues, a stance evident in the framing of the content.

 In contemporary society, TikTok has emerged as a preeminent platform increasingly used by political entities to facilitate the advancement of communication strategies and currently boasts over 1.1 billion active users. The United Nations UN, established in 1945 as a quintessential international political institution, inaugurated an official TikTok account in 2020 in response to the exigencies imposed by the Covid-19 pandemic. An examination of the extant literature reveals a marked paucity of scholarly inquiries critically evaluating the UNs social media communication strategies, particularly a notable dearth of analyses specifically addressing the UNs strategic engagements on TikTok. This study aspires to augment the existing corpus of literature concerning TikToks role in global communication by scrutinizing the UNs communication strategies on this platform. The research entails a content analysis of 287 posts disseminated via the UNs TikTok account from March 31, 2020, to October 26, 2024. The findings elucidate that the UN has adeptly constructed a digital communication strategy characterized by the extensive integration of elements, including subtitles, captions, music, and hashtag within its TikTok posts. Moreover, the analysis indicates that the UN endeavors to transmit salient messages to its audience through a diverse array of audiovisual formats and affective tonalities. However, it is also observed that the UN inadequately addresses the exigencies of marginalized populations on TikTok, manifesting disparities in representational equity for specific demographic cohorts and exhibiting insufficient adherence to the principle of multilingualism. Finally, the UN was found to have a clear bias in its TikTok content regarding global political issues, a stance evident in the framing of the content.

 In contemporary society, TikTok has emerged as a preeminent platform increasingly used by political entities to facilitate the advancement of communication strategies and currently boasts over 1.1 billion active users. The United Nations UN, established in 1945 as a quintessential international political institution, inaugurated an official TikTok account in 2020 in response to the exigencies imposed by the Covid-19 pandemic. An examination of the extant literature reveals a marked paucity of scholarly inquiries critically evaluating the UNs social media communication strategies, particularly a notable dearth of analyses specifically addressing the UNs strategic engagements on TikTok. This study aspires to augment the existing corpus of literature concerning TikToks role in global communication by scrutinizing the UNs communication strategies on this platform. The research entails a content analysis of 287 posts disseminated via the UNs TikTok account from March 31, 2020, to October 26, 2024. The findings elucidate that the UN has adeptly constructed a digital communication strategy characterized by the extensive integration of elements, including subtitles, captions, music, and hashtag within its TikTok posts. Moreover, the analysis indicates that the UN endeavors to transmit salient messages to its audience through a diverse array of audiovisual formats and affective tonalities. However, it is also observed that the UN inadequately addresses the exigencies of marginalized populations on TikTok, manifesting disparities in representational equity for specific demographic cohorts and exhibiting insufficient adherence to the principle of multilingualism. Finally, the UN was found to have a clear bias in its TikTok content regarding global political issues, a stance evident in the framing of the content.

 Günümüzde 1.1 milyardan fazla aktif kullanıcısı olan TikTok, siyasi kuruluşların iletişim stratejileri doğrultusunda kullandığı bir platform haline gelmiştir. 1945 yılında kurulan ve en etkin uluslararası siyasi oluşumlar arasında yer alan Birleşmiş Milletler BM de, Covid-19 pandemisiyle birlikte 2020 yılında TikTokta resmi bir hesap açmıştır. Literatür incelendiğinde, BMnin sosyal medyadaki iletişim stratejilerini ele alan çalışmaların sınırlı olduğu, BMnin TikToktaki iletişim stratejilerini analiz eden akademik çalışmaların ise bulunmadığı tespit edilmiştir. Bu çalışma, BMnin TikToktaki iletişim stratejilerini inceleyerek, TikTokun küresel iletişimdeki rolüne dair mevcut literatüre katkı sağlamayı amaçlamaktadır. Çalışmada, BMnin TikTok hesabında 31 Mart 2020 ile 26 Ekim 2024 tarihleri arasında yayımlanan 287 paylaşım, içerik analizi tekniği ile incelenmiştir. Araştırma sonucunda, BMnin TikTok paylaşımlarında yoğun bir şekilde altyazı, açıklama, müzik ve hashtag gibi unsurları kullanarak etkili bir dijital iletişim stratejisi geliştirdiği ve bu strateji aracılığıyla geniş bir kitleye ulaşarak takipçilerle etkileşim sağladığı tespit edilmiştir. Ayrıca, BMnin farklı video türleri ve çeşitli duygusal tonlar kullanarak takipçilerine etkili mesajlar iletmeye çalıştığı saptanmıştır. Bununla birlikte, BMnin TikTokta dezavantajlı bireylerin ihtiyaçlarını yeterince dikkate almadığı, videolarda belirli gruplara yönelik temsilde dengesizliklerin bulunduğu ve çok dillilik ilkesinin yeterince uygulanmadığı tespit edilmiştir. Son olarak, BMnin TikTok içeriklerinde dünya siyaseti açısından ayrımcı bir tutum sergilediği ve bu tutumun içeriklerde belirgin bir şekilde görüldüğü belirlenmiştir.

Makale detayları

Tiktok as a Political Communication Medium: An Examination of the United Nations

Yazarlar:

Zindan Çakıcı

Yayıncı:

Ankara Hacı Bayram Veli University

Ana Başlıklar:

İletişim Çalışmaları | Sosyal Medya Çalışmaları

Dergi:

İletişim Kuram ve Araştırma Dergisi Issue 69, pp.136-156

Belge Tipi:

Makale

Yayın Tarihi:

3/2025

Belge Dili:

İngilizce

Document ID (Org No.):

2001342706

pISSN:

2147-4524

Digitalization

Social Media

Political Communication

United Nations

TikTokDijitalleşme

Sosyal Medya

Siyasal İletişim

Birleşmiş Milletler

TikTok

Sayı

Makale detayları

Yazarlar: Zindan Çakıcı

Yayıncı: Ankara Hacı Bayram Veli University

Ana Başlıklar: İletişim Çalışmaları | Sosyal Medya Çalışmaları

Dergi: İletişim Kuram ve Araştırma Dergisi Issue 69, pp.136-156

Belge Tipi: Makale

Yayın Tarihi: 3/2025

Belge Dili: İngilizce

Document ID (Org No.): 2001342706

pISSN: 2147-4524

Sayı

Yazarlar:

Zindan Çakıcı

Yayıncı:

Ankara Hacı Bayram Veli University

Ana Başlıklar:

İletişim Çalışmaları | Sosyal Medya Çalışmaları

Dergi:

İletişim Kuram ve Araştırma Dergisi Issue 69, pp.136-156

Belge Tipi:

Makale

Yayın Tarihi:

3/2025

Belge Dili:

İngilizce

Document ID (Org No.):

2001342706

pISSN:

2147-4524