AN EVALUATION OF THE SOCIAL MEDIA SHARING STRATEGIES OF POLITICIANS ON SPECIAL DAYS

Today, social media has become one of the most effective tools through which politicians can communicate directly with their constituents and quickly convey their messages to large masses. Politicians frequently prefer posts on special days to establish emotional ties with citizens and display a political stance. Careful planning of various elements is necessary for posts on special days to receive more interaction. This study aims to analyze the posts made by politicians on the social media platform X (formerly Twitter) on special days regarding form, timing, and content. In this context, the 27th Term (Member of Parliament) MPs posts on six important days between 2021 and 2022 were analyzed. The research observed that the highest number of posts was made on religious holidays, but the highest interaction was obtained on Mother's Day. Statistical analyses have shown that posts containing videos or images significantly differ from those without and that including a hashtag (#) created a significant difference in the number of likes but not in retweets. This study guides those who use social media for political communication, particularly on special days, indicating which days to focus on and what strategies to develop for effective sharing.