New media communication practices of Syrian immigrants: The Case of Antalya

The concept of new media has emerged with the renewal and development of communication technologies and offers users an effective communication environment by breaking the traditional media perception. Changes and transformations in communication also affect migrant individuals who experience the phenomenon of migration and determine the communication styles of individuals regardless of place and space. Migrant individuals, who realize their relationships and interactions through communication channels, continue to communicate by taking advantage of the existence of technology like all humanity. As a matter of fact, the protests in Syria, which took place in Turkey's close geography in 2011, created a conflict environment in a short time and caused millions of people to experience the migration process. The aim of this study is to reveal the social media practices of Syrian migrant individuals living in Güneş Neighborhood of Kepez district of Antalya province in the context of migration, migrant and new media communication before and after migration. In this study, which was created by utilizing the network theory, the effect of social media practices on the process while creating the network of Syrian migrants in the migration process was examined. In this study, which was designed with a qualitative research design, research data on the social media use of migrant individuals were obtained using a semi-structured interview technique. Interviews were conducted face-to-face with 20 participants and migrant individuals using social media applications were interviewed until the desired information on the subject was reached. Snowball sampling technique was used in the research. The sociodemographic characteristics of migrants, their social media usage practices and how they use the network of relationships in the migration process within the framework of new media were included. As a result of the research, it is seen that social media applications serve as a bridge for individuals to decide to migrate and to communicate after migration. In addition, the fact that social media applications facilitate the communication process with their families and relatives and obtaining information for Syrian migrants who experience migration has emerged. Keywords: Migration, Traditional Media, Syrian Migrants, New Media, Communication