Exploring the impact of social media on Orientalist representations and its effects on Syrian refugees in Turkiye

Abstract

This article examines the interplay between representations and social media, taking a postcolonial approach and using Orientalist representations of Syrian refugees in Turkiye as a case study. In this regard, the article first explores the role of social media in perpetuating derogatory representations and marginalising Syrian refugees in Turkiye. Based on qualitative content analysis and survey methods, the article finds that social media may facilitate an easy and rapid reproduction of Orientalist representations. Moreover, this reproduction reinforces the Western colonial mentality that created Orientalist representations in the first place, further ingraining them in our social and cultural structures. The article also discusses that Orientalist representations on social media perpetuate and justify the various types of attacks against Syrian refugees in Turkiye, which are explored through the concept of digital vigilantism. The article suggests that social media users must understand and be aware of the potential harm caused by the perpetuation of Orientalist representations and its contribution to digital vigilantism to challenge the drawbacks of social media.