The use of social media as a sustainable social innovation tool: Rural women's cooperatives in Türkiye
Thesis Type: Postgraduate
Institution Of The Thesis: Istanbul University, Institute Of Social Sciences, Turkey
Thesis Supervisor: Sevimece Karadoğan Doruk
Approval Date: 2024
Thesis Language: Turkish
Abstract:
Innovative solutions to social issues, known as social innovations, play a crucial role in addressing these problems through their flexible and participatory structures. However, the sustainability of social innovations is as important as the innovations themselves. Regardless of their commercial aspects, ensuring the sustainability of social innovations is essential. Within the unique social structure of Turkey, women's cooperatives in rural areas act as micro-level social innovation actors in their regions. These cooperatives contribute to the elevation of women's social status, the attainment of economic independence, and the visibility of their labor. Furthermore, they positively impact social life through new local collaborations. One of the most significant challenges faced by rural women's cooperatives is maintaining long-term sustainability. This research aims to elucidate the role of social media usage in the sustainability of these cooperatives. The first section of the study theoretically examines the context of innovation, the meaning of social innovation, and the relationship between sustainability and social innovation. The second section explores the position of cooperatives within social innovation, focusing on the role of women's cooperatives, particularly rural women's cooperatives, within the cooperative system in Turkey. In the third section, the research component, the role of social media usage in ensuring the sustainability of social innovations is investigated through rural women's cooperatives. While the use of information and communication technologies in social innovation practices has been discussed in the literature, there is no practical study on the role of social media in the sustainability of social innovations. This research provides a unique contribution to rural women's cooperatives in Turkey by examining social media usage within these cooperatives. A field study was chosen as the research model, and semi-structured in-depth interviews were conducted with 20 women from two rural women's cooperatives selected through convenience sampling in the provinces of Çanakkale and Adıyaman. These interviews, supported by participatory observations, were analyzed using descriptive analysis methods. The analyses revealed that rural women's cooperatives actively use social media for marketing and sales, networking and relationship development, learning and capacity building, internal communication and organization, product development, and market and competition analysis. It was found that this usage supports the sustainability of the cooperatives. The study concludes that social media plays a significant role in the sustainability of rural women's cooperatives as social innovation actors.