Movie Theaters' Social Media Use During COVID-19 Pandemic: The Case of Beyoglu Movie Theater

Movie theaters were closed down during the COVID-19 pandemic leaving them with no way of communicating face-to-face with their target audiences and, more importantly, they lost an important source of revenue. Social media became one of the most important tools used by movie theaters to communicate with their target audiences during the pandemic. In this regard, this study seeks answers to the research problem: "Does social media provide new opportunities for independent movie theaters to continue their activities?" Accordingly, this article analyzes how movie theaters used social media during the COVID-19 pandemic, through the example of Beyoglu Movie Theater's use of Twitter. Beyoglu Movie Theater was sampled since it is an independent movie theater, which has the largest number of followers on Twitter in Turkey. In terms of methodology, this article employs a descriptive analysis and a content analysis to examine 794 tweets and retweets shared by Beyoglu Movie Theater between January 1, 2020 and December 31, 2020. The topic codes identified in the Tweets have been classified under 26 different categories. As an outcome, it was revealed that the tweets by Beyoglu Movie Theater underwent a major transformation. The use of social media evolved from promoting movie showtimes and selling tickets before the pandemic into a form that focuses on maintaining the connection with audiences and asking them for material support during the pandemic. Finally, this article concludes that Beyoglu Movie Theater's use of social media during the pandemic can be read as an example of participatory culture expressed by Jenkins, in contrast to passive media audience.

Descriptive Analysis of the Use of Twitter by Cinemaximum Movie Theaters During the Covid-19 Global Pandemic

This study looked into how movie theaters used social media during the pandemic, through the example of Cinemaximum movie theaters and Twitter. The reason for selecting Cinemaximum is that it is Turkey's largest cinema chain and its movie theaters have the largest number of followers on social media. The study used the descriptive analysis and the content analysis method to examine 1006 tweets shared by Cinemaximum on Twitter between January 1 and December 15, 2020. At the end of the study it was seen that the Cinemaximum Twitter account was used actively in line with the company's needs during the global pandemic. Differences were seen between shares posted prior to 16 March and those posted after this date. The topic codes identified in the Tweets were classified under 16 different categories. It was seen that the topics covered most in Tweets posted when movie theaters were open were "Films" (movie showtimes and information about the movie to be shown);when movie theaters were closed, "Entertainment" (competitions, games, questions, riddles, messages promoting participation (tagging your friend, etc.), humor, interesting information);and in July, when preparations were being made to reopen movie theaters, "Preparations for reopening the theaters." When viewed in general, it can be said that the Tweets shared when movie theaters were open and in July when preparations to reopen them were underway were written primarily for marketing purposes, with a focus on advertising and promotion, and that those written when movie theaters were closed were focused on public relations.