Isil's online communication and general fear of terrorism: qualitative research on students of the Faculty of political science

Brutalnosti terorističke organizacije Islamske Države Iraka i Levanta (ISIL), u posljednje dvije godine, nemoguće je pobjeći. Njihove aktivnosti nerijetko se nalaze na dnevnom redu svih medija. Razlog tolikog publiciteta ne leži samo u njihovim nasilnim aktivnostima, već i u vrlo sofisticiranom korištenju interneta i društvenih mreža. Upravo je ta online komunikacija poticaj za ovaj istraživački rad. Naime ISIL je korištenje novih medija u terorističke svrhe podigao na potpuno novu razinu. Internet im je omogućio postavljanje vlastite agende kojom šire strah i paniku lakše nego ikad. Rad tako govori o odnosu medija i terorizma te utjecaju koji mediji imaju na kreiranje straha od terorizma. Poseban naglasak stavljen je na pojavu interneta i njegov utjecaj na informiranje građana. Također je riječ o online komunikaciji terorističke organizacije ISIL, o načinima kojima se služe kako bi proširili svoje poruke te kojim se kanalima koriste kako bi dosegli svoju publiku. Cilj ovog rada je otkriti utječe li, i u kojoj mjeri, informiranost na strah od terorizma. Istraživanje je trebalo donijeti uvid u povezanost informiranosti o aktivnostima ISIL-a sa strahom od terorizma, odnosno strahom od moguće viktimizacije kod studentske populacije. Nakon provedene fokus grupe, istraživanje je pokazalo da informiranost ima utjecaj na strah od terorizma. Isto tako videozapisi su se pokazali kao najveći okidač straha od terorizma.The brutality of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) has been impossible to avoid over the past two years since their activities have frequently been broadcasted across all the media outlets. However, their violent activities are not the only factor behind the massive publicity as their sophisticated usage of the Internet and various social media plays a big role in the process. That exact online communication was used as an incentive for this research paper. ISIL has taken the usage of the modern media for terrorism purposes to a whole new level since the Internet made it possible for them to establish their agenda in order to escalate fear and panic easier than ever. Therefore, this paper discusses the aforementioned connection between media and terrorism as well as the impact of the media on creating the fear of terrorism. Great emphasis is put on the emergence of the Internet and its influence on informing citizens. In addition, it discusses the online communication of the terrorist organisation ISIL, methods they use to spread their messages and the channels they use to reach the public. The objective of this paper was to determine if the awareness affects the fear of terrorism and to what extent. The research was supposed to give insight into the connections between the awareness of ISIL activities and the fear of terrorism, that is, to point out the dread of possible victimisation amongst the student population. Upon completion of the focus group, the research has indicated that the awareness has an impact on the fear of terrorism. Likewise, video recordings proved to be the main trigger when it comes to the fear of terrorism