Browsing by Author "Artan Ozoran, Beris"

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How TikTok Works for Digital Diplomacy During Conflict/War Times: The Cases of Russia-Ukraine and Israel-Gaza Conflicts
(Routledge Journals, Taylor & Francis Ltd, 2025) Artan Ozoran, Beris; Seyidov, Ilgar; Erdogan, Burak
During times of conflict and war, public diplomacy undergoes a significant transformation, with strategic communication shifting from traditional channels to highly visual and participatory digital platforms. Among these, TikTok has emerged as a key arena for states to shape perceptions and mobilize international audiences. This study explores how TikTok is utilized as a tool of digital diplomacy by examining the official accounts of Ukraine and Israel during the Russia - Ukraine war and the Israel - Gaza conflict. Drawing on Strategic Narrative Theory (SNT), the analysis categorizes state-produced content into system, identity, and issue narratives and investigates how these narrative types effect audience engagement on the platform. By integrating narrative analysis with quantitative engagement metrics, this research not only extends SNT into the context of short-form video platforms but also contributes to the growing literature on digital diplomacy in wartime contexts.
Persuasive Appeals, Thematic Content, and Affordances on TikTok: Evidence From the 2023 Turkey Presidential Elections
(Routledge Journals, Taylor & Francis Ltd, 2025) Artan Ozoran, Beris; Seyidov, Ilgar; Agaoglu, Erhan
TikTok has become a central arena for political communication, especially in engaging younger voters. This study examines how Recep Tayyip Erdo & gbreve;an and Kemal K & imath;l & imath;& ccedil;daro & gbreve;lu employed TikTok during the 2023 Turkish Presidential Election by analysing 265 videos through quantitative content analysis. Rather than directly measuring voter attitudes, we focus on how leaders' use of affordances (association, editability), thematic content, and rhetorical appeals related to audience engagement (likes, comments, shares). Results show that both leaders prominently highlighted the economy and relied on pathos-driven appeals, consistent with personalization in Turkish political campaigning. Regression analyses revealed that K & imath;l & imath;& ccedil;daro & gbreve;lu's 'other' and 'law/justice' themes significantly boosted engagement, while high use of association features (hashtags and mentions) reduced it. In Erdo & gbreve;an's case, ethos and pathos appeals strongly decreased engagement, whereas logos-based messages performed relatively better. For both leaders, longer videos predicted lower engagement. These findings illustrate how affordances and persuasive strategies interact to shape engagement on TikTok.