Here comes the new episode for Thoughts on academic life There has always been self‑promotion in academia. People mailed offprints, boasted about books, dropped famous names at dinner. But the contemporary landscape is qualitatively different: platformized, metricized, gamified.[6][8] Academics now operate across multiple, interconnected arenas: Citation and profile platforms: Google Scholar, Scopus IDs, ORCID, ResearchGate, … Read more
Here I show up in Anadolu Agency’s YouTube documentary on social media addictions. Well, you know me, I tried to be as objective as possible, and I am always distant from technological addiction rhetoric. Here I show in a short MESAM video on data security: I am a member of the scientific committee at this … Read more
I have attended a workshop of a COST project, and now I am flying back to İstanbul. The workshop took place on 19-20 March 2026 at Vytautas Magnus University in Kaunas, Lithuania. RELINK2 is one of the COST projects I could align my studies with. Glad to be part of it. By … Read more
I was once a trainer in an EU-funded project, and I spent a few hours with Prof. Ortaylı in 2015 in one of its workshops. I was really anxious about whether he would make fun of me, but he did not (!). According to the project page of RUMVADER (Cemaat Vakıfları Temsilciliği), it was the … Read more
When Algorithms Translate: Linguistic Colonialism, Data Sovereignty, and the New Role of the Translator This post is based on a talk I delivered at the panel “Translation and the Role of the Translator in Digital Communication,” organized by the Translation Association of Turkey (Çeviri Derneği) at Istanbul Aydın University on March 13, 2026. In Turkish, … Read more
Today I was invited to a talk at CNBCE Turkey. The topic was, of course, war, AI, and disinformation. While I was preparing for the talk, I updated my previous report on disinformation in the current war. A few instances of interest: 1- Unconfirmed stories on X and in some regional outlets allege that Quds Force … Read more
A new session of accreditation in our campus is up. That means we will compile strategic plans, assessment reports, learning outcome documentation, meeting minutes, curriculum maps, faculty CVs formatted according to specific templates, evidence of “continuous improvement,” proof of “stakeholder engagement,” and spreadsheets demonstrating “alignment” between course objectives and program outcomes. The process consumes dozens … Read more
One of the most promising anthropology departments in Türkiye is at Özyeğin University, and they have organized Anthropology Days this year. I was invited to give a talk. The talk was livelier and anecdotal, but with the help of Claude.ai, I converted it into an essay with proper citations. Have a look. The Anthropology of … Read more
Drop me a line if you are having difficulty finding the readings (erkan.saka@bilgi.edu.tr) This is my signature course in which we work on new readings but also new book projects here at İstanbul Bilgi University. COMM 720-2026 Syllabus Course Name Theories of New Media Lecturer Prof. Erkan Saka (erkan.saka@bilgi.edu.tr) Description On Mondays, 19:00-22:00 E4 Publica … Read more
Last week, I attended a panel at Kurumsal İletişimciler Derneği’s [Corporate Communicators Association] summit. The association described the event as such: At KİD Summeet 2026, under the theme “Artificial Intelligence and Communication: Meaning and Responsibility in the Age of Algorithms,” we explored how AI is transforming communication, discussed its practical applications, ethical boundaries, and the … Read more
It is so sad. We have lost Didem, a colleague, an artist, one of our earliest doctoral students. She was under treatment for a long while, and we got the bad news yesterday. In Memory of Didem Yalınay I am very sad to share that my doctoral student, friend, and colleague, Didem Yalınay, has passed … Read more
I was a lecturer/trainer at Yenibirlider AssociationYenibirlider Association event recently. As part of the 27th Term Development Program, we gathered with Prof. Dr. Erkan Saka, Faculty Member at the Faculty of Communication at Istanbul Bilgi University, for the “Applied Artificial Intelligence Literacy” session on Saturday, January 31. Our participants gained a comprehensive perspective on the integration … Read more
I am embarking on a new fieldwork project after my last substantive one, which was related to political trolls in Türkiye. I have been excited about this for a while and finally got started. It will be complicated, definitely multi-sited and multi-layered. I will track the development of Turkish LLM development projects in the context … Read more
Episode 7: “Projecilik”—When Funding Becomes the Product I was recently at an academic conference when a colleague introduced herself: “I’m working on a TÜBİTAK-funded project on digital literacy.” Not “I’m researching digital literacy.” Not “I’m studying how social media affects learning.” No—the funded project itself was the primary credential, the opening gambit, the thing most … Read more
Episode 3- The Q1 Journal Fetish Episode 4- The Administrator Problem Episode 5- The University Rankings Game With no public debate or academic consensus, Türkiye’s Higher Education Council (YÖK) decided to reduce undergraduate education to 3 years. YÖK is so powerful that no university administration can challenge its decisions. YÖK can easily stop a university’s existence. I have … Read more