18 Theoretical Studies Communication Today Uğ ur GÜNDÜZ – Burcu Kaya ERDEM ABSTRACT: The widespread use of computer-based technologies, mostly the Internet, constitutes a new dimension in the study of virtual nationalism. The use of distance- and time-shrinking information technologies – such as so- cial media, virtual communities and websites of nationalist groups – has changed the structure and context of nationalism as well as the scholarly discourse on related topics in the digital age. Social media enable identity expression, exploration and experimentation; phenomena that are considered natural for the human experi- ence. It is necessary to acknowledge that there are many different factors which inspire and shape the Internet communities and interactions they make within themselves. It is essential to comprehend the motives behind these influences in order to understand the group interactions on social media platforms. In this study the authors focus on the nationalist discourse in virtual communities and on social media; mainly the opposition and resistance manifestations in the cultural and social contexts are discussed. The authors thus offer a set of theoretical outlines on the given topic and base their analysis of some nationalists’ social media posts on the inductive method of inquiry. The study also concentrates on the need to figure out the negative consequences of such social media sharing in relation to various virtual groups and general users. KEY WORDS: communication, digital age, nationalism, social media, virtual community, virtual nationalism Introduction Technological advancements play a central role in the organisation of society and in the shaping of op- portunities and constraints, meanings and ways of life. People and various social groups adapt technology to their needs and interests, transforming the organisation of social life and profoundly changing the structures of current society. Apart from the basic ideologies and pressure groups, the Internet and specifically social media offer a more civil, conscious, confident communication environment compared to the ‘traditional’ ways of information dissemination. Social networks are the pattern of today’s social life and outline the dominant functions and processes related to the rise of the ‘network society’. Although the relationship between the concept of “nationalism” and information dissemination as such is closely tied, many of the conditions, under Communication Today, 2017, Vol. 8, No. 2 Assoc. Prof. Dr. Uğ ur Gündüz Faculty of Communication Istanbul University Kaptanı Derya İ brahim Paşa Sokak 34116 Beyazıt Fatih – İstanbul Turkey ugunduz@gmail.com Uğ ur Gündüz graduated from the Marmara University (the Department of Business Administration, the Fac- ulty of Political and Economic Sciences) in 1999. He earned his Master’s degree in 2004 and received his PhD. degree after submitting his doctoral thesis Westernization Concept in the Press: A Comparison of Young Turk Journalism and Present Journalism at the Istanbul University in 2009. His research interests are sociol- ogy of communication, history of communication, westernisation, the press and modernisation in Turkey. He works as an Associate Professor at the Istanbul University (the Faculty of Communication, the Department of Journalism). Assoc. Prof. Dr. Burcu Kaya Erdem Faculty of Communication Istanbul University Kaptanı Derya İ brahim Paşa Sokak 34116 Beyazıt Fatih – İstanbul Turkey bkaya440@gmail.com Burcu Kaya Erdem is an Associate Professor of communication science at the Istanbul University, Turkey. She earned her M.A. in general journalism at the Social Science Institute, the Istanbul University. After her graduation, she was appointed as a research assistant at the Department of Public Relations and Publicity (the Communication Faculty, the Maltepe University, Turkey) in 2006. She earned her PhD. in Journalism at the Social Science Institute at the Istanbul University in 2009. She has been working at the Istanbul University (the Faculty of Communication, the Department of Journalism) since 2012. Her research interests include the fields of ‘othering’ in media (international communication in the context of East and West dichotomy, critical media literacy, representation of activist groups in mass media and orientalism). She has published several academic textbooks and scholarly articles on Al Jazeera, critical media literacy, orientalism and the ‘othering’ approach applied by the media. THE CONCEPT OF VIRTUAL NATIONALISM IN THE DIGITAL AGE: SOCIAL MEDIA PERSPECTIVES OF TURKEY