Turkish youths and media preferences

This thesis explores the different possible angles of effects on the media preferences of the research audience. It focuses on the media preferences of third generation Turkish-Dutch young people living in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. Accordingly, this research centers on themes such as parental mediation strategies, the rise of new media, social identification, social participation and the characteristics of transnational Turkish television versus Dutch television. In-depth semi-structured interviews were conducted with 14 young Turkish-Dutch people living in Rotterdam. The respondents were asked about their media preferences, their subsequent media use and motivations for said media use. The main research question of this thesis is: ‘What are the media preferences and -motivations of third generation Turkish-Dutch young people in Rotterdam?’. The sub-questions are: ‘What are the influences of social relations with other parties on the media preference of third generation Turkish-Dutch young people?’, ‘What is the influence of changes in Dutch society and politics on the media preference of third generation Turkish-Dutch young people?’, ‘What is the influence of religiosity on the media preferences and –consumption of third generation Turkish-Dutch young people in Rotterdam?’ and ‘What is the influence of membership to a student- or other organization of third generation Turkish-Dutch young people on feelings of belonging to Dutch society?’ The results of this study signal a shift from transnational Turkish television as main media source to online media as the dominant media technology in the lives of young third-generation Turkish-Dutch people living in Rotterdam. They remain strongly focused on Turkish cultural media products and attach great value to the Turkish part of their identity. The precarious nature of their identity, born in the Netherlands with a Turkish background can be explored in a more diverse pallet of interests online. This leads to segmentation and a stronger focus on Turkish cultural products on the one hand for some with an already strong predisposition towards the Turkish social identity group. On the other hand, this can also lead to a greater diversification of the cultural media products diet of these young people. Social online media are widely used, although their use is greatly dependent on the possible social control exerted by the Turkish social identity group. Membership of an organization which does not focus solely on Turkish issues can also have a diversifying effect on the media consumption of the research audience. Although the respondents considered themselves to be religious, the research did not find any notable influence of religiosity on media consumption behaviour.