AK Party to increase social media army

Turkey's Justice and Development Party (AK Party) is planning to increase its social media army from 9,000 to 12,000 users before the presidential election, according to a Monday report in the Taraf daily.

The AK Party's main aim is to use Internet resources effectively before the upcoming presidential election in August and the 2015 general election. The AK Party came to realize the importance of social media during the Gezi Park protests last summer, but the effectiveness of the party's social media power was later cast into doubt as the party's social media users, especially Twitter users, could not defend its decision to shut down prep schools. This led the AK Party to make some changes regarding its social media structure, including a decision to increase the number of recruited users to 9,000 before last month's March 30 local elections.

The additional 3,000 social media users will be joining the AK Party social media ranks starting from May and will support the party via the Internet. The AK Party wants its supporters to use social media channels more effectively before the elections. As part of the new strategy, the AK Party is planning to reach a wider audience in order to boost its campaign against the Gülen movement.

The new social media move is in part designed to give a virtual boost to Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's possible candidacy in the coming presidential elections.

Published on Cihan, 21 April 2014, Monday