Abstract:

Social media can take place as channels and tools in different strategic communication practices. As a social network platform, Twitter can be used as a communication tool/channel in various fields simultaneously in the agenda’s requirements. In this article, between January 10 and May 31, 2020, health minister of Turkey Dr. Fahrettin Koca’s instrumentalization of Twitter in health communication, crisis communication, and political communication practices has been examined. The research took place at two levels. At the first level, Dr. Fahrettin Koca’s posts were subjected to numerical analysis. In the long term (November 2018-January 2021), it was examined whether there was a difference in the number of shares, likes, and retweets during the pre-/crisis period. At the second level, 757 shares between January 10 - May 31, 2020, which are important dates before and during the crisis management, were analyzed using the reflexive thematic analysis method. As a result of the analysis, it has been seen that Dr. Fahrettin Koca’s posts are instrumentalized in all three different strategic communication practice areas. According to the country’s agenda and the world agenda, it has been revealed that the number of likes and reposts of the posts decreased or increased.

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