MEDIA ECOLOGY AND SOCIAL MEDIA: A STUDY ON INSTAGRAM

This study aims to detect and analyze analyze the changes social media is undergoing as an important actor of media ecology by categorizing and inspecting the content created by one of the most popular the social media platforms in Turkey: Instagram. Folowing a literature review on media ecology, strategic communications and social media, research investigated the change in strategic communications of Instagram through the official blog page by analyzing the target audience and changing content of the blog. The aim of the study is to understand the target audience of Instagram's official blog to make a better understanding of the change in the communication strategy of Instagram in the context of media ecology. To answer the research questions of the study, content analysis was carried out with MAXQDA 2018. The results show that Instagram aims to talk to a variety of users to be able to sustain its popularity and success as a socialization and business platform while adapting its communication strategy based on crucial keywords such as up-to-dateness, reciprocity, and inclusivity.