Social Media and International Relations.

• Author: Ozdemir, Mehmet

Social Media and International Relations

By Sarah Kreps

Cambridge University Press, 2020, 86 pages, $22.00, ISBN: 9781108826815

This study analyzes the book published by Sarah Kreps in 2020 under the title Social Media and International Relations. It can be seen that the book in question describes with striking examples how social media can turn into a weapon of war in the hands of malicious actors and its different effects on countries according to regime differences. The book is considered to be an important resource for researchers who want to learn the power of social media in the field of international relations.

The book focuses on the use of social media as a social and political force, the use of social media as a tool of war, its disadvantages in democratic societies and its advantages in autocratic societies, its use as a tool of manipulation, and the desire of national governments to ensure digital sovereignty. In addition, the book is one of the rare and qualified studies in which social media, which constitutes a significant part of today's popular culture, is examined in depth and with striking examples in the field of international relations.

In the first chapter, the author provides superficial but valuable information about the subject headings on the following pages in the introduction section and provides the reader with an excellent mental framework in the context of preparation.

In chapter 2, the author outlines in general terms how media theoretically function in democratic markets of ideas and points out how social media differ from traditional media in terms of quantity and quality. The author describes social media, its scale, how it works, and the forms of contrast with traditional media and its role in providing news. In addition, the author presents the findings of the study to the reader as evidence, claiming that the two largest social media organizations that Americans use as news sources are YouTube and Facebook.

Chapter 3 outlines the mechanisms through which social media can be used as a weapon of war and the extent to which the internet can be weaponized. In this chapter, the author focuses on the ongoing interest of international actors in using information to build support for their own political causes and obstruct those of their opponents, arguing that social media is central to the process of information acquisition. She argues that the media in an autocratic government can shape a number of political...