Luke Moore, director of social analytics at Crimson Hexagon, shares his thoughts about Turkey following the company’s new partnership with Istanbul-based Somera

As east as you can go in the west and as west as you can go in the east, it’s not just the unique geography of Turkey that makes it fascinating. The country buzzes with a blend of charm, culture and history, shared by a people with an unerring knack for observing and commenting astutely on both the humdrum and dramatic events happening around them.

For someone who lives and breathes social media sentiment, multicultural Turkey is captivating. The unusual demographics of the Turkish people keep social conversations fresh and vibrant. Social media is heavily used by a youthful welleducated population. In 2010, Turkey had the youngest population in Europe with almost 17% of the population aged between 15 and 24. The latest demographic figures reveal a quarter of the population is now less than 14 years old. Of its 81.5 million citizens, more than 43%are internet users. That’s not especially high in European or world terms, but of those online users, over 32 million are on Facebook – more than 85% of the country’s internet users and the sixth-highest proportion for any country.

Social media in Turkey has had a troubled history, reported widely by the international press. Free speech is an issue, with the government repeatedly accused of blocking thousands of sites targeting minority cultural groups including the country’s LGBT community and its 18% Kurdish population. YouTube was banned for three years from 2007- 2010, and then again for nearly two months in 2014, together with Twitter. Anti-government movements such as the Gezi Park protests are routinely met with social media blackouts. There are planned prosecutions for 29 social media users who dared to share views critical of the government. But according to local social media monitoring group Twitturk, microblogging didn’t stop with over half a million tweets being posted within 10 hours of the bans.

Despite this proscriptive censorship of social media by their government, Turkish citizens retain an inherent ability to create solutions wherever they find them, as demonstrated by those workarounds to the Twitter ban earlier this year. If you’ve ever visited Turkey, you’ll know all about the Turkish flair for spotting opportunities and nurturing individual entrepreneurialism.

When I speak about social media, I am always talking with a sense of understanding social sentiment. Understanding nuance across social media platforms does not come from listening like a machine, but from truly understanding the subtleties of conversations. And there are very few countries where I feel that is needed more than in Turkey – a nation with a genuine appreciation for sarcasm which is apparent across social media channels. With experience working in many other European countries, I’d say that Turkish users are more likely to have personal and viewpoint-based social media conversations, and are less likely – compared too other Europeans and American users – to share brand-led news and stories (although they certainly won’t hold back in sharing opinions on brand developments).

The social media landscape of Turkey aptly reflects the diversity, vibrancy and multiculturalism of the country and its people. Turkish life places great value on personal networking, relationships and connections that inspire genuine perspectives and opinions. Whether it is allowed to flourish officially by the government or driven by more innovative means, the country’s social media voice will continue to provide a voice to the sentiment of a complex, fascinating society – driving free speech with a twist of humor and a wry self-awareness.

Luke Moore is a director at social media analytics and insights specialist Crimson Hexagon.