seyirci

Seyirci is a Turkish noun meaning the person or people who watch a performance, event, or broadcast; the audience or spectator. It is used for people attending live events such as theater, cinema, concerts, or sports, as well as viewers of a broadcast in media contexts. In Turkish, the word emphasizes the act of watching as the defining role of the group.

Etymology: from the verb seyretmek, to look at or watch, with the agentive suffix -ci, forming seyirci.

Usage: In performing arts, seyirci describes the audience as a collective and as individuals within a performance space. The presence of the seyirci can influence performers, a phenomenon studied in performance theory and psychology as audience effect or social facilitation. Audiences participate through attention, feedback, and applause, shaping pacing and interpretation of the work.

In media and broadcasting, seyirci often means the viewers who consume content; television ratings and cinema attendance are described in Turkish as seyirci sayısı or seyirci oranı. The term can also appear in discussions of cultural consumption, live-stream audiences, and event management.

Cultural notes: In Turkish culture, the seyirci is traditionally expected to be attentive and respectful during a performance; crowd reactions are considered part of the experience. With digital platforms, the concept has broadened to include on-demand and online audiences, though the Turkish terms izleyici and izleyici kitlesi are sometimes preferred in certain contexts.