Turkish people are spending an average of seven hours and 13 minutes per day on the internet, with nearly half of that time spent on social media platforms, according to a new study by Uğur Arslan, a lecturer at Dicle University’s Vocational School of Technical Sciences.
Arslan compiled his research in a newly published book titled "YouTube and Privacy," focusing on how digitalization has reshaped internet and media habits.
“Out of the seven hours and 13 minutes spent online daily, around 3.5 to four hours are dedicated to social media,” Arslan said.
“YouTube stands out as the most time-consuming platform – not just for listening to music, but also for watching films and consuming news,” he added.
“We chose YouTube as the focal point of our study and interviewed four different content creators across various genres. We tried to understand their motivations, as well as their perceptions of surveillance and privacy.”
Arslan emphasized that the study also analyzed viewer comments to gauge how audiences perceive privacy and surveillance.
According to Arslan, videos that touch on themes of personal privacy – such as childhood traumas, family moments, or even everyday activities like diaper changing – receive the most interaction. “Viewers are extremely satisfied with content that involves privacy. In fact, they often demand more,” he said.
“In the eyes of users, privacy has become something they’re willing to sacrifice in exchange for fame or self-expression,” he explained. “While privacy is often framed in terms of female bodies, we divide it into four categories: informational, individual, bodily and spatial privacy.”
He noted that people are voluntarily exposing their private lives for public consumption, which leads to serious consequences. “Even though this might create negative situations, privacy is being willingly blurred and commercialized. Social media platforms profit from this,” he said.
Arslan also warned against the risks posed by artificial intelligence in spreading disinformation. He urged the public to read news from its original source and to be cautious of misleading headlines that do not match the content.
“We live in an era where even the headlines of news articles can be misleading,” he said. “People are less concerned with the truth and more drawn to sensationalism, even knowingly spreading false information to generate engagement or economic gain.”
He stressed the importance of media literacy and ethical journalism, warning that unchecked disinformation, especially fueled by AI-generated fake videos and content, can lead to societal panic, chaos and polarization.
“If people don’t learn to verify information and respect legitimate sources, we risk losing our grasp on reality,” Arslan said.
“We saw this clearly during the recent earthquakes when fake news caused widespread fear. Proper use of AI and stronger media literacy can help prevent such issues in the future.”
According to a 2024 survey conducted by the Turkish Statistical Institute (TurkStat), “the proportion of internet usage was 87.1% in 2023 for individuals in the 16-74 age group, and it became 88.8% in 2024. It was observed that the proportion of internet usage in 2024 was 92.2% for males and 85.4% for females.”
“The most used social media and messaging applications by individuals were WhatsApp with 86.2%, YouTube with 71.3% and Instagram with 65.4%, the TurkStat survey, titled “Survey on Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Usage in Households and by Individuals, 2024,” also said.
Across the EU, the share of households with internet access was 94% in 2024, up from 80% in 2014. According to EU statistics, the highest rates of household connection to the internet were reported by the Netherlands and Luxembourg, with 99%.
