Episode 3: The Q1 Journal Fetish Episode 1- The Performance of Transparency Episode 2 – The Theater of Scholarly Collegiality A colleague proudly announced his latest publication, adding Q1 even before the title. I see self-promotional Instagram posts that mention the Q number, mostly Q1. This moment crystallized something I’ve observed throughout my career in Turkish … Read more
As noted in the first episode, this series is based on my observations in many different settings, not necessarily happening in my own department. In fact, I am relatively lucky to be there, exposed to fewer troubles than I usually observe. “These meetings are so valuable,” a colleague proclaimed at the conclusion of yet another … Read more
A reporter contacted me to comment on the recent launch of Turna.ai, as its answers reminded many of Grok’s scandalous answers. However, I could not follow the recent launch and thus could not respond to the reporter. But then I asked ChatGPT for a deep research. I believe users should not be harsh on this … Read more
Yesterday I saw the news online. Taylan Kulaçoğlu has passed away. We followed each other on X. I saw him once or twice in my life. He had a bar in Taksim for a while, and I visited the bar and met him there. He was a sincere man. That’s what I can say about … Read more
Celil Öker, one of the masters of Turkish crime fiction who passed away in 2019, told stories of the loneliness of cities and the new middle class, extending beyond murder, in his novels. We have discussed at SosyalKafa a newly defended PhD thesis: Elif Otluoğlu Kısa’s YENİK VE YALNIZ (Defeated and Alone): AN ANALYSIS OF … Read more
We have recently interviewed Furkan Şahin, who is one of the team members who created Seren Ay. Seren Ay (AI Influencer): Under the account “@ai.serenay” on Instagram, this refers to Turkey’s first and only AI influencer. The account produces content featuring a virtual persona generated by artificial intelligence, aimed at engaging with influencer and social … Read more
After a long hiatus, Sinem and I streamed a new video at SosyalKafa. This was an update to our academic AI tools stream that took a few years ago. It is in Turkish, but a lengthy summary in English is available here. Artificial Intelligence and Academic Tools Artificial intelligence has become an important tool in … Read more
I don’t understand why the platform would name itself in English if it claims to be local and national… Selçuk Bayraktar, a prominent Turkish engineer and chairman of Baykar and TEKNOFEST, and son-in-law of Erdoğan, announced NEXT Teknofest Social in July 2025 as a “yerli ve milli” (local and national) social media platform developed by … Read more
After the last update, Grok’s answers became offensive and led to a restriction in Türkiye. Honestly, before the update, I was using Grok to get relatively objective information, but not now at all. On July 9, 2025, a Turkish court ordered a nationwide block on Grok, the AI chatbot developed by xAI (Elon Musk’s company), … Read more
Dear readers, As I continue curating my unboxing series—those explorations of personal archives and forgotten memories—I find myself drawn to excavate a different kind of collection: the accumulated observations from over two decades in academic life. Like the personal artifacts I’ve been discovering, these professional experiences have layered into complex narratives that deserve careful examination. … Read more
Details here This page, created as part of the Freedom of Expression Association‘s EngelliWeb project, shows how long some of the more than one million websites blocked in Turkey have been inaccessible. Our aim is to prevent the effects of censorship from being forgotten and to raise awareness about the pressures on freedom of expression.
X (formerly Twitter) blocked Ekrem İmamoğlu’s account in Turkey following a legal demand and court order issued by Turkish authorities. The official reason given was that posts on his account, particularly one from April 24, allegedly incited people to commit crimes and amounted to “propaganda for a criminal organization.” Authorities cited concerns over public order … Read more
This is the most significant migration to Bluesky in the Turkish context. Even my profile got over a hundred followers in a day. Someone created a basic site that allows X users to follow the people they follow on Bluesky. There are lists created to follow others and to block others! I moved the Bluesky … Read more
The recent closure of Gazete Duvar triggered a new series of criticisms towards Google’s search engine algorithm changes. Below is a curation of news on this topic ending with a comparative angle with other countries. My approach to Google has turned relatively sour recently, but I still don’t believe the platform itself is the only … Read more
As Turkey’s first Digital Print Library, the mission of Gravur Dunyasi Digital Print Library is to provide a comprehensive cultural service by creating a visual database which preserves cultural heritage, primarily those related to our geography, through archiving, documenting and labelling all of the prints available in the Library both in Turkish and English. For … Read more