Akademik Veri Yönetim Sistemi
TURKIYE ILETISIM ARASTIRMALARI DERGISI-TURKISH REVIEW OF COMMUNICATION STUDIES, sa.48, ss.64-84, 2025 (ESCI, TRDizin)
Information and communication technologies have transformed surveillance and introduced a new surveillance practice called “stalking”. While social media allows users to share personal information, this sharing can lead to privacy violations. On platforms such as Instagram, some users use stalking applications that constitute privacy violations to monitor others’ accounts. This study aims to understand the reasons why Instagram users in Türkiye use such applications to track others without their consent. It also seeks to understand how these practices emerge in the context of privacy discussions. Designed as qualitative research, it used the phenomenological method and collected semi-structured interview data. The data were coded with MAXQDA, and thematic analysis was conducted. The findings demonstrated that the main reason for using these applications is curiosity. Participants engaged in stalking to observe people they could not communicate with on social media, particularly those with whom they had an emotional connection. It was observed that individuals who engage in stalking tend to normalize violence. It was also found that when the participants considered the act of stalking from an ethical perspective, they evaluated the act as a crime, a wrong behavior or a violation and emphasized that it was a privacy issue.