Interactions and presenting-selves in virtual neighbourhood communities

The research aims to examine interaction within virtual neighborhood communities and investigate its contribution to district identity. To achieve these objectives, two research questions were formulated. The first question (Q1) is "How is interaction revealed in virtual neighborhood communities on social media?" The second question (Q2) is "How do communication and interaction within virtual communities on social media contribute to the sharing of neighborhood identity?" To address these questions, a dataset comprising N: 11.167 comments and shares on Feriköy Platformu virtual communities between May 30, 2022, and December 30, 2022, was collected. The district of virtual community is one of the center districts in Istanbul. As one of the central districts of Istanbul, it has undergone a historical process parallel to the changing structure of the city. At this juncture, it may be fruitful to reach generalizing results. The data were analyzed using Van Dijk's critical discourse analysis, leading to several conclusions. According to the results, it was seen that the residents of the district intensely conveyed their loyalty to their district through the virtual community. Accordingly, there is an intensity of self-presentation.