YouTube Video Analysis of the Islamic Social Complex of Somuncu Baba in Context with Religious Tourism

Abstract

Travelers are impressed by pictures, videos and writings in social media when they are choosing their holiday destination. There are a lot of religious destinations around the world and in Turkey. Thanks to the marketing power of social media, recondite religious destinations can become better known now. In this study, the aim is to find out the impact of social media on the awareness of the Islamic Complex of Şeyh Hamid-i Veli (Somuncu Baba) who spent his life mostly in Aksaray but also in Kayseri, Bursa and Malatya. In this study, “Somuncu Baba Külliyesi” is used as a keyword and the keyword is searched via YouTube. The outcome is limited by the first five video which have got viewed the most and the videos are examined using discourse analysis. Although there are many complexes dedicated to Somuncu Baba, this study only focuses on the one in Aksaray. According to the results of the research, when better video contents are created the videos will be watched more and consequently the knowledge and recognition level will increase. Thus, Aksaray will benefit from the complex much more in the context of religious tourism and cultural tourism.