Discursive Patterns of Opinion-Based Knowledge in the Production of Health-Related Social Media Posts in Turkey

Online media platforms play a central role in presenting opinions, facilitating information exchange, and supporting knowledge production. However, on most social media platforms, verifying the credibility of posts and comments remains highly challenging due to their open nature and lack of a strong governance structure. At the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, social media platforms became tainted by uncertain knowledge, partly caused by the limited control these platforms have over user-generated content. This lack of credible information fueled a collective state of panic (Peschke, 2021). Since social media spaces largely involve individuals engaging and sharing their opinions, the credibility of knowledge production on these platforms must be questioned. Despite the proliferation of disinformation, uncertainty, and misinformation on social media platforms (Wardle & Derakhshan, 2017), opinion-based knowledge production has also emerged from these channels, which are challenging to monitor. This article analyzes the communication patterns on health of Turkish posts and comments on Facebook and Twitter during October and November 2021. The data were evaluated against opinion-based content, allowing this study to trace the dynamics of posts and comments by categorizing them as opinion, information, or knowledge production. Data interpretation is grounded in these classifications, with particular attention to the interplay between public engagement and health information. Understanding how the media-based public creates opinion-based knowledge during the uncertainty of the COVID-19 pandemic underscores the potential for collaboration between media-based publics and scientific authorities.