PDF

Published

2025-02-21

Issue

Vol. 10 No. 1 (2025): Published

Section

Research Articles

License

The journal adopts the Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0), which means that anyone can reuse and redistribute the materials for non-commercial purposes as long as you follow the license terms and the original source is properly cited.

Author(s) shall retain the copyright of their work and grant the Journal/Publisher rights for the first publication with the work concurrently licensed since 2023 Vol.8 No.2.

Under this license, author(s) will allow third parties to download, reuse, reprint, modify, distribute and/or copy the content under the condition that the authors are given credit. No permission is required from the authors or the publisher.

This broad license intends to facilitate free access, as well as the unrestricted use of original works of all types. This ensures that the published work is freely and openly available in perpetuity.

By providing open access, the following benefits are brought about:

  • Higher Visibility, Availability and Citations-free and unlimited accessibility of the publication over the internet without any restrictions increases citation of the article.
  • Ease of search-publications are easily searchable in search engines and indexing databases.
  • Rapid Publication – accepted papers are immediately published online.
  • Available for free download immediately after publication at https://esp.as-pub.com/index.php/ESP

 

Copyright Statement

1.The authors certify that the submitted manuscripts are original works, do not infringe the rights of others, are free from academic misconduct and confidentiality issues, and that there are no disputes over the authorship scheme of the collaborative articles. In case of infringement, academic misconduct and confidentiality issues, as well as disputes over the authorship scheme, all responsibilities will be borne by the authors.

2. The author agrees to grant the Editorial Office of Environment and Social Psychology a licence to use the reproduction right, distribution right, information network dissemination right, performance right, translation right, and compilation right of the submitted manuscript, including the work as a whole, as well as the diagrams, tables, abstracts, and any other parts that can be extracted from the work and used in accordance with the characteristics of the journal. The Editorial Board of Environment and Social Psychology has the right to use and sub-licence the above mentioned works for wide dissemination in print, electronic and online versions, and, in accordance with the characteristics of the periodical, for the period of legal protection of the property right of the copyright in the work, and for the territorial scope of the work throughout the world.

3. The authors are entitled to the copyright of their works under the relevant laws of Singapore, provided that they do not exercise their rights in a manner prejudicial to the interests of the Journal.

About Licence

Environment and Social Psychology is an open access journal and all published work is available under the Creative Commons Licence, Authors shall retain copyright of their work and grant the journal/publisher the right of first publication, and their work shall be licensed under the Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0).

Under this licence, the author grants permission to third parties to download, reuse, reprint, modify, distribute and/or copy the content with attribution to the author. No permission from the author or publisher is required.

This broad licence is intended to facilitate free access to and unrestricted use of original works of all kinds. This ensures that published works remain free and accessible in perpetuity. Submitted manuscripts, once accepted, are immediately available to the public and permanently accessible free of charge on the journal’s official website (https://esp.as-pub.com/index.php/ESP). Allowing users to read, download, copy, print, search for or link to the full text of the article, or use it for other legal purposes. However, the use of the work must retain the author's signature, be limited to non-commercial purposes, and not be interpretative.

Click to download <Agreement on the Licence for the Use of Copyright on Environmental and Social Psychology>.

How to Cite

Özen, Üstün, Çam, H., İpkin, M., & Göktuğ Kaldırımcı, Şahin. (2025). Investigation of the impact of Instagram access restriction on individuals’ psychological well-being, social and cultural perceptions, and adaptation strategies. Environment and Social Psychology, 10(1). https://doi.org/10.59429/esp.v10i1.3336

Investigation of the impact of Instagram access restriction on individuals' psychological well-being, social and cultural perceptions, and adaptation strategies

Üstün Özen

Atatürk University

Handan Çam

Gumushane University, Gumushane, 29100, Türkiye

Metin İpkin

Ataturk University, Erzurum, 25030, Türkiye

Şahin Göktuğ Kaldırımcı

Ataturk University, Erzurum, 25030, Türkiye


DOI: https://doi.org/10.59429/esp.v10i1.3336


Keywords: Instagram Access Restrictions, Psychological Impacts, Social Impacts, Cultural Perceptions, Adaptation Strategies

Abstract

This study comprehensively examines the psychological impacts of the Instagram access ban implemented in Turkey between August 2, 2024, and August 10, 2024, how these impacts are reflected in social consequences and cultural perceptions, and also assesses the adaptation strategies that individuals develop in response to the ban. Data were collected from 80 participants residing in Erzurum through online surveys and analyzed using MAXQDA 24 software. The findings suggest that the access ban had various psychological effects, with some participants experiencing changes in their social relationships and difficulties in accessing information. The impacts on social bonds and solidarity varied among participants, with some cases showing intensified social interactions. In terms of cultural perceptions, changes were observed in individuals' views on freedom and expression rights. The study provides important insights into how social media access bans can influence individual perceptions and social structures, suggesting that these findings could contribute to shaping social media policies.

References

[1]. Aghababyan, A. (2023). Government Blocking of Social Media Platforms as Expropriation of Contractual Rights. The Journal of the Institute for Transnational Arbitration, 5(3), 15–45. https://itainreview.org/articles/2023/vol5/Issue3/government-blocking-of-socialmedia-platforms.html

[2]. Akgül, M. & Kırlıdoğ, M. (2015). Internet censorship in Turkey. Internet Policy Review, 4(2). https://doi.org/10.14763/2015.2.366

[3]. Allcott, H., & Gentzkow, M. (2017). Social media and fake news in the 2016 election. Journal of Economic Perspectives, 31(2), 211-236.

[4]. Anyim, W. O. (2021). Twitter Ban in Nigeria: Implications on Economy, Freedom of Speech and Information Sharing. Library Philosophy and Practice, 1–13. https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/libphilprac.

[5]. Arvas, İ. S. (2019). Would Freedom of Expression Become a National Threat? YouTube, Twitter and Wikipedia Problems in Turkey. AJIT-e: Academic Journal of Information Technology, 10(38), 193–214. https://doi.org/10.5824/1309-1581.2019.3.009.X.

[6]. Ayaz T. (2020), Liberal Özgürlük Teorisi Çerçevesinde Türkiye’deki İnternet Erişim Engellemeleri Üzerine Bir İnceleme, Marmara Üniversitesi, Sosyal Bilimler Enstitüsü, Gazetecilik Ana Bilim Dalı, Bilişim Bilim Dalı, Doktora Tezi.

[7]. Bamman, D., O’Connor, B., & Smith, N. A. (2012). Censorship and Deletion Practices in Chinese Social Media. First Monday, 17(3), 1–16. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.5210/fm.v17i3.3943.

[8]. Brand, M., Young, K. S., Laier, C., Wölfling, K., & Potenza, M. N. (2016). Integrating psychological and neurobiological considerations regarding the development and maintenance of specific Internet-use disorders: An interaction of person-affect-cognition-execution (I-PACE) model. Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews, 71, 252-266.

[9]. Castells, M. (2012). Networks of outrage and hope: Social movements in the internet age. Polity Press.

[10]. Chen, X., Xie, J., Wang, Z., Shen, B., & Zhou, Z. (2023). How We Express Ourselves Freely: Censorship, Self-censorship, and Anti-censorship on a Chinese Social Media. Lecture Notes in Computer Science (Including Subseries Lecture Notes in Artificial Intelligence and Lecture Notes in Bioinformatics), 13972, 93–108. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-28032-0_8.

[11]. De Souza Abreu, J. (2018). Disrupting the disruptive: Making sense of app blocking in Brazil. Internet Policy Review, 7(3). https://doi.org/10.14763/2018.3.928.

[12]. Di Florio, A., Verde, N. V., Villani, A., Vitali, D., & Mancini, L. V. (2014). Bypassing censorship: A proven tool against the recent internet censorship in Turkey. Proceedings - IEEE 25th International Symposium on Software Reliability Engineering Workshops, ISSREW 2014, 389–394. https://doi.org/10.1109/ISSREW.2014.93.

[13]. Howard, P. N., & Hussain, M. M. (2011). The role of digital media in the Arab Spring. Journal of Democracy, 22(3), 35-48. DOI: 10.1353/jod.2011.0041

[14]. İspir, R. (2021). İnternete erişim yasakları çerçevesinde ifade özgürlüğünün sınırları. Yüksek Lisans Tezi, Erciyes Üniversitesi. https://tez.yok.gov.tr/UlusalTezMerkezi/TezGoster?key=v7BkNnnepTnbhn8rNR77LVFFtEihrmmm8_s4-ZnPRcheXsi-IWb9z_sWHhUNRuPj.

[15]. Jiang, Y., & Kuang, X. (2023). Selective Censorship on Rightists and Leftists? An Observation and Analysis of Censored Social Media Posts in China. Problems of Post-Communism, 70(3), 266–276. https://doi.org/10.1080/10758216.2021.1969249.

[16]. Karakaya, Y. S. (2018). Sosyal medyaya erişimin engellenmesi: İfade özgürlüğü açısından bir değerlendirme Yüksek Lisans Tezi, Gazi Üniversitesi. https://tez.yok.gov.tr/UlusalTezMerkezi/TezGoster?key=hcgrYffRbz0Z44UJEuLtw VNJhck K87ddIaJ7Grg4JuyDkTmsVjWNd1oKdHJnCBQg.

[17]. Kuss, D. J., & Griffiths, M. D. (2017). Social networking sites and addiction: Ten lessons learned. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 14(3), 311. doi: 10.3390/ijerph14030311

[18]. Lamichhane, S. (2024). TikTok ban in Nepal: reactions of the public. Sprin Journal of Arts Humanities and Social Sciences, 3(4), 23-27. https://doi.org/10.55559/sjahss.v3i4.279

[19]. Mohammed, A., & Adelakun, L. A. (2023). The 2021 Nigerian Twitter ban: A text-analytics and survey insight into public reactions and outcomes in the early weeks of the ban. Communication and the Public, 8(4), 390–401. https://doi.org/10.1177/20570473231209077/ASSET/IMAGES/10.1177_20570473231209077-IMG4.PNG.

[20]. Moses, J. M., Targema, T. S., & Ishaku, J. (2024). Tale of an ill-fated scapegoat: National security and the struggle for state regulation of social media in Nigeria. Journal of Digital Media and Policy, 15(1), 27–45. https://doi.org/10.1386/JDMP_00100_1

[21]. Moskalenko, S., & Heine, S. J. (2003). Watching your troubles away: Television viewing as a stimulus for subjective well-being. Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, 22(3), 300-321. https://doi.org/10.1177/0146167202238373

[22]. Ng, A. H., Kermani, M. S., & Lalonde, R. N. (2021). Cultural differences in psychological reactance: Responding to social media censorship. Current Psychology, 40(6), 2804–2813. https://doi.org/10.1007/S12144-019-00213-0/FIGURES/1.

[23]. Papacharissi, Z. (2015). Affective publics: Sentiment, technology, and politics. Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199999736.001.0001

[24]. Primack, B. A., Shensa, A., Sidani, J. E., Whaite, E. O., Lin, L. Y., Rosen, D., ... & Miller, E. (2017). Social media use and perceived social isolation among young adults in the U.S. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 53(1), 1-8. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.amepre.2017.01.010

[25]. Sharma, V., Oo, P. P., Hollaender, J., & Scott, J. (2021). COVID-19 and a coup: blockage of internet and social media access further exacerbate gender-based violence risks for women in Myanmar. BMJ Global Health, 6(6), 6564. https://doi.org/10.1136/BMJGH-2021-006564.

[26]. Shireeva, E., Martynov, A., Kaplunov, A., & Ukhov, V. (2017). Blocking Social Media. Reasoning and Legal Grounds. Communications in Computer and Information Science, 745, 139–147. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-69784-0_12.

[27]. Slutskiy, P. (2020). Freedom of Expression, Social Media Censorship, and Property Rights. Tripodos. Blanquerna School of Communication and International Relations-URL, 48, 53–67. https://doi.org/10.51698/TRIPODOS.2020.48P53-67.

[28]. Tai, Y., & Fu, K. W. (2020). Specificity, Conflict, and Focal Point: A Systematic Investigation into Social Media Censorship in China. Journal of Communication, 70(6), 842–867. https://doi.org/10.1093/JOC/JQAA032.

[29]. Tanash, R. S., Chen, Z., Thakur, T., Wallach, D. S., & Subramanian, D. (2015). Known Unknowns: An Analysis of Twitter Censorship in Turkey. Proceedings of the 2015 ACM Workshop on Privacy in the Electronic Society, 11–20. https://doi.org/10.1145/2808138.2808147.

[30]. Thomas, P. B., Riehm, D., Glenski, M., & Weninger, T. (2021). Behavior Change in Response to Subreddit Bans and External Events. IEEE Transactions on Computational Social Systems, 8(4), 809–818. https://doi.org/10.1109/TCSS.2021.3061957.

[31]. Twenge, J. M., & Martin, G. N. (2018). Social media use and its association with psychological well-being: A review of current evidence. Current Opinion in Psychology, 29, 117-121.

[32]. Van Dijck, J. (2013). The culture of connectivity: A critical history of social media. Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199970773.001.0001

[33]. Wildana, F. (2021). An Explorative Study on Social Media Blocking in Indonesia. The Journal of Society & Media, 5(2), 456–484. https://doi.org/10.26740/JSM.V5N2.P456-484.

[34]. Zhang, B., Haimson, O., & Michaelanne, T. (2022). The Chinese diaspora and the attempted WeChat ban: platform precarity, anticipated impacts, and infrastructural migration. Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction, 6(CSCW2), 1-29. https://doi.org/10.1145/3555122.

[35]. Zuboff, S. (2015). Big other: Surveillance capitalism and the prospects of an information civilization. Journal of Information Technology, 30(1), 75-89. https://doi.org/10.1057/jit.2015.5



21 Woodlands Close #02-10, Primz Bizhub,Postal 737854, Singapore

Email:editorial_office@as-pub.com