Political Use of Twitter in Post-Gezi Environmental Protests

Abstract

Twitter has often been associated with recent social movements, particularly in the Middle East region. It was also used widely in Turkey during and after the nationwide Gezi protests of 2013. In this article, I study the political engagement practices on Twitter with a particular focus on the post-Gezi environmental protests, and reflect on how emergent protest ecologies are shaped through the participation of the diverse stakeholders. Based on an analysis of three environmental protests in Yirca, Iztuzu and Cerattepe, I highlight the role of Twitter as a political platform connecting players across protests. Findings indicate that Twitter plays a significant role in expanding protest networks and enabling the congregation of a wide variety of players, such as environmental movement organizations, media, political figures and activists who then help to sustain their resistance movements.