SOSYAL MEDYA KULLANIM MOTİVASYONLARINI DİJİTAL EMEK PERSPEKTİFİNDEN OKUMAK

Abstract

The latest developments in communication technologies and the emergence of new applications have made the economic aspect of new media an important area of research. The new process, which started with digitalization, has also transformed forms of production and consumption. The prevalence of new media technologies and popular user content brought about interest in different topics such as user labor, user data usage, and user data sharing. While the production of content by users on social media platforms constitutes the main data that facilitates the operation of these systems, the collected user data is sold to large corporations for advertising purposes. Despite the exploitation of user labor in the new media environment and several security flaws on these platforms, the amount of content on social media platforms continues to grow day by day. The main motivation of new media users regarding this content does not involve tangible compensation. There are different sources of motivation in the usage of new media by users. By maintaining their existing relationships over social media or establishing new social relationships on these platforms, users strengthen their social capital. Additionally, by joining various groups, users of new media reinforce their feelings of liking and belonging, they keep producing to obtain the respect and status that they could not obtain in real life.Moreover, while it is much easier for some people to express themselves via social media, others meet the needs they are unable to meet in real life by creating fictional personalities on these platforms. Therefore, it may be argued that there are various social or emotional motivations effective in user-based production in new media. This study was designed as a study of users to determine the needs that push individuals to spend digital labor on new media platforms and which needs are met by new media. In this study, a survey form that was created in the form of a scale based on field research that was conducted with 220 users between the ages of 14 and 64. Consequently, it was determined that the participants acted not with “material” motivations but with “social” motivations while using social media platforms. The most frequently stated main motivations of the participants were found to be “relaxation/blowing off steam” and “self-expression”. Keywords: New Media, Digital Labor, User, Motivation, Social Capital.