The Rhizomatic Function of Social Media (Twitter and WhatsApp) in Crisis Creation Related to Oil and Energy Sector (Tenth and Eleventh Presidential Terms)

Abstract

This study explores the various dimensions of crisis creation in the field of oil and energy through social media platforms (Twitter and WhatsApp), examining its rhizomatic function in media diplomacy. The necessity of discussion arises from delineating the damage caused by media diplomacy through Deleuze's rhizomatic theory in the realm of social media networks and the research objective is to investigate how the rhizomatic function of social media (Twitter and WhatsApp) contributes to the emergence of crises and the discovery of media diplomacy functions in navigating through crises in the oil and energy sector. The main question revolves around identifying the influential rhizomatic factors of media diplomacy on Twitter and WhatsApp in oil and energy-related crises, questioning what role media diplomacy can play in analyzing rhizomatic networks in overcoming similar crises. The theoretical framework relevant to Deleuze's rhizomatic theory is applied. Research findings indicate that the most significant rhizomatic network relationship between the function of Twitter and WhatsApp is as follows: news is published on Twitter, celebrities reshare them in the virtual space, and users exchange them in WhatsApp groups. Furthermore, news without sources regarding oil and energy are circulated in WhatsApp groups, shared by celebrities, and re-circulated on Twitter and WhatsApp groups. Platforms like Twitter aim to influence WhatsApp groups and instill a sense of trust in news of interest. Twitter transforms economic crises into political crises by resharing news through celebrities, leading to the proliferation of crises in WhatsApp groups within the oil and energy sector among the general public. The dominant mental pattern reveals that the most crisis-inducing factor in social media lies in the source of news disseminated by domestic celebrities on Twitter and foreign networks, as well as news with unknown sources circulated in WhatsApp groups. This phenomenon, accompanied by domestic economic hardships and the confrontation between oil as wealth and managerial inefficiency as crisis, is fueled by foreign networks, and can only be addressed through the direct engagement of responsible individuals in the oil and energy sector on social media platforms.