HUR SOCIALA MEDIER UPPFATTAS AV INDIVIDER I PARRELATIONER OCH KAN BIDRA TILL KÄNSLOR AV NÄRHET, TILLIT OCH SVARTSJUKA. En kvalitativ studie om upplevelsen av sociala medier och deras funktioner i romantiska relationer

Sammanfattning

Social media is now a central part of young adults' everyday lives and plays an increasinglyimportant role in how romantic relationships are formed, maintained, and interpreted. Thisstudy examines how individuals in romantic relationships experience social media andfeatures such as location sharing, read receipts, and online status, and how these relate tofeelings of closeness, trust, jealousy, and control. In a society characterized by constantconnectivity and increased digital visibility, the study aims to deepen our understanding ofhow technical features on social media interact with emotional and relational processes.The study was conducted using a qualitative method which is based on ten semistructuredinterviews. The selection was made strategically to obtain a variety of experiences, whileensuring that the participants shared similar life situations and high use of social media. Theempirical material was analyzed using thematic analysis and interpreted based on theories ofdigitally mediated intimacy, from Nancy Baym's perspective on digital relationships andJoseph Walther's Social Information Processing Theory (SIPT).The results show that social media is largely included in the participants' everyday lives andvisible in their relationships. Many respondents describe how digital communicationcontributes to increased closeness through continuous contact and sharing of everyday events.At the same time, it appears that this closeness is often more significant in the early stages ofa relationship, while the need for constant digital communication tends to decrease in morestable relationships.When it comes to trust, a more complex picture emerges. Most respondents feel that trust isprimarily built through long-term communication and shared experiences. Features such aslocation sharing are perceived to create a sense of security and confirmation, while for othersthey risk reinforcing suspicion and making it more difficult to let go of worries. The studyalso shows that digital visibility and access to incomplete information can contribute tojealousy and controlling behavior.In summary, our study shows that social media is perceived as an everyday part of romanticrelationships. It serves as an arena where closeness, trust, jealousy, and control arecontinuously experienced.