Social media minstrel tradition within the scope of intangible cultural heritage preservation approaches

The âşıklık (minstrel) tradition is a significant component of Turkish culture that has endured for centuries. Its longevity is largely due to its ability to adapt to the conditions of the time. Emerging in an oral environment, the âşıklık tradition has sustained its existence by being updated within written and electronic cultural spheres. This fact points to the dynamic nature of the tradition. Today, the internet one of the communication tools of electronic culture and the social media platforms that have developed in connection with it have led the âşıklık tradition into a new process of transformation. This study, designed as a netnographic research, focuses on the contemporary status of the âşıklık tradition on social media within the framework of Intangible Cultural Heritage. The âşıklık tradition was inscribed on the UNESCO Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2009. Within this context, activities are carried out to safeguard, preserve, and transmit the inscribed elements to future generations. The "Theoretical Framework" section of this study addresses these activities, while also examining the history, development, types, and cultural transmission role of social media, which constitutes the research universe. In the "Findings and Discussion" section, the representation of the âşıklık tradition on social media is analyzed, with particular attention to its ongoing process of transformation.