The Rhizomatic Function of Social Media (Twitter and WhatsApp) in Crisis Creation in Oil and Energy Events during the Tenth and Eleventh Presidential Terms

Abstract

In this study, by explaining the various dimensions of crisis-making by social media (Twitter and WhatsApp) in the oil and energy sector, its rhizomatic function in media diplomacy was examined. The necessity of the discussion arises from the analysis of media diplomacy through Deleuze's rhizomatic theory in the context of the country's social media networks, and the research objective is to determine how the rhizomatic function of social media (Twitter and WhatsApp) creates crises and to identify the functions of media diplomacy in overcoming crises in the oil and energy sector. The main research question seeks to find the rhizomatic factors influencing media diplomacy on Twitter and WhatsApp in the crises of the oil and energy sector, and to determine what functions media diplomacy, through rhizomatic analysis, can have in overcoming similar crises. The theoretical framework is based on Deleuze's rhizomatic theory. The results of the study show that the most significant rhizomatic network connection between the function of Twitter and WhatsApp groups is as follows: news is published on Twitter, celebrities repost it in the virtual space, and users exchange it in WhatsApp groups. Another aspect is that source-less news about oil and energy is published in WhatsApp groups, this news is reposted by celebrities, and it is again reposted on Twitter and WhatsApp groups. Twitter serves as a model for influencing WhatsApp groups and creating a kind of trust in the intended news. In this regard, Twitter, by transforming economic crises into political crises through news reposted by celebrities, contributes to the spread of crises in WhatsApp groups in the oil and energy sector among the general public. The dominant mental model indicates that the most critical crisis-making factor in social media is the news source, which in Twitter comes from domestic celebrities and foreign networks, and from anonymous sources spread in WhatsApp groups. This issue, along with the poor domestic economic conditions and the conflict between oil as wealth and managerial incompetence as a crisis, is fueled by foreign networks and can only be addressed through the direct response and engagement of responsible individuals in the oil and energy sector in social media.