A group of postgraduate students of Near East University Faculty of Communication pursing their master’s and doctorate degree in the field of media and communication will be presenting their articles at an international symposium, which will be held in Mersin, Turkey, titled as International Symposium on Communication in the Digital Age (CIDA).

According to the press release issued by the Directorate of Press and Public Relations of Near East University, the international symposium is jointly organised by the Association of Communicational Research and Mersin University where the Near East University postgraduate students will be making presentations titled as “The impact of using celebrities for political propagandas on electorate behaviour”; “Digital Surveillance”; “Ideological Propagandas carried out via computer games”; and “The role of irony in the success of political videos and posters”.

It was stated that the symposium to be held aims to bring together academicians, researchers and postgraduate students to provide multiple perspectives and innovative ideas on issues related to the field.

Making a statement regarding the matter, Assist. Prof. Dr. Ayça Demet Atay expressed that it was rather significant for master’s and doctorate students to take part in academic meetings such as conferences and symposiums, and that she was very proud of the Near East University students’ success.

The effects of political propagandas on electorates were scrutinised…
Two doctorate students will be presenting their articles on political propagandas at the symposium; such that Hasan Yurdabekler will be presenting on the impact of using celebrities for political propagandas on electorate behaviour. On the other hand, the other doctorate student Buğra Dervişoğlu will be presenting on semiotics analysis of commercial films of the political parties published on the internet prior to the January 7th 2018 general elections held in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus.

Is it possible to resist Digital Surveillance?
In addition to the two doctorate students mentioned above, there are also three master’s degree students who will be presenting at the International Symposium on Communication in the Digital Age. Firstly, Evren Maner discusses the fact the resistant probabilities against digital surveillance in this digital era in which individuals are kept under digital surveillance due to security concerns of the governments, and/or the companies driven by interest. Secondly, Hasan Keskinel addresses the ideological propagandas carried out through computer games in this digital communication era. He draws attention that ideological propagandas are effective on the targeted mass as users consider computer games as a tool of entertainment. Thirdly, in his presentation Hüseyin Dağlı probes into the role of irony in the success of political videos and posters.