Abstract:

Digitalization and the use of digital technologies both social and corporate needs influence and changes the dynamics of corporate life in all aspects. Digitalization is seen as a difficult process for many individuals and organizations, while for some it is seen as a value that provides competitive advantage and creates new opportunities. The importance and necessity of common blood digitalization is better understood in the Covid-19 pandemic process that has occurred in the world over the past 1 year. While people are exposed to social isolation in this process, institutions have substantially restricted their activities and services. During the pandemic period, digital technologies and related communications, production and distribution systems enabled individuals and institutions to communicate with their interlocutors, to maintain their commercial activities and services on a remote basis, though limited. From this fact, the importance of digitalization in this article and the possibilities that digital communication and social media reveal in the conditions of crisis we are discussed in institutions and brands. For this discussion, the Turkish Airways (THY) was chosen as one of the actors of air transport, one of the most affected sectors due to travel restrictions applied throughout the world during the pandemic process. The understanding of the crisis communication that the Turkish Airways has followed from the beginning to the present day of the Covid-19 pandemic process, the purposes of the use of digital and social media and the roles these vehicles play in this process are generally questioned. This query has been used by the semi-structured method of conversation with the relevant units and managers of the THY Corporate Communications Department. According to the findings obtained in the interview, THY has used its digital and social media platforms and tools in the Pandemic process at the center of its crisis communication strategy and activities while struggling to overcome the limits created by the crisis and communicating and communicating with its target audiences.