Transformation of Condolence in the Digital Age: A Case Study on Turkish Culture

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to demonstrate the practice of condolence of digital immigrants in Turkey. Although digital media technologies expand communication opportunities and networks, they also cause changes in social relations between people. Versatile communication has become possible thanks to digital media technologies as opposed to non-interactive or unilateral communication of conventional media. Nowadays, it is possible to send a message to dozens of people with just one click. As such, new attitudes and behaviors are observed in the society along with the developing possibilities of digital media. The hypothesis of the study is "digital immigrants that use social media platforms in Turkey has experienced a change in the practice of condolences." In this regard, the emphasis put on the changes in condolence practices that occur across Turkey is discussed along with new Internet technologies. We conducted interviews with 15 participants among the ages of 52 and 69 between April and June 2020. According to the findings, we see that many of the participants adopt traditional condolence practices, but they do not devalue the condolence practices that occur on social media. We observed that digital condolence practices have started to coexist with traditional condolence practices, but this change should not be perceived as the traditional one is beginning to be erased or disappeared.