Investmenting the use of interactive media in environmental activism: The case of Greenpeace Turkey

ABSTRACT: This study explores the importance of interactivity within the field of environmental activism regarding the usage of cultural, political and social discourses in constructing web interface. This evaluation was made on the Greenpeace/Turkey website, (http://www.greenpeace.org/turkey/tr/) by focusing on the design and linguistic structure of the site. The examination has been carried out through the usage of semiotic analysis and critical discourse analysis. Additionally the level of interactivity of the website of Greenpeace was evaluated by interviewing Greenpeace members and employees. It was found that existing social, political and cultural discourses which have impacts on environmentalism in Turkey such as effect of modernization and westernization also influenced the cyber environmental activism in Turkey. The results of semiotic analysis, critical discourse analysis and interview show that there is a lack of mutual understanding in terms of design and content of the Greenpeace website between the users of the site and the organization. While the design of the Greenpeace website tries to create a user friendly atmosphere, the language used to explain nuclear activities are distanced from the users. Furthermore the results indicate that the potential power of interactive media is not currently properly used by the designers and member of the Greenpeace website and the users of the site. Results of the research show that users of the Greenpeace/Turkey website ask for an educational part which would discuss nuclear power disadvantages and substitutions for it. Keywords: Interactive media, environmental communication, web design, modernization, cyber activism. ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………