Women's emotion work on Facebook: Strategic use of emotions in public discourse

Debates on Facebook are frequently accused of being too emotional, and rational arguments give way to anger, outrage, and polarisation. Emotions are often juxtaposed against reasoning in public deliberation, as they are not considered rational but coercive in nature. However, others would argue that emotions have a specific function in public discussion, as, for example, they can make an argument more genuine or trigger empathy. Considering that social network sites, such as Facebook, are designed to favour emotional engagement, it becomes clear that more understanding is needed about the experience of emotions in such debates. Based on 30 in-depth interviews, this study explores how emotions in Facebook debates are experienced and negotiated by Norwegian women. The findings show that while some emotions are disliked and considered non-conductive, other emotions are employed strategically. Moreover, the analysis demonstrates how the use and negotiation of emotions can be understood as emotion work.publishedVersio

A digital public sphere: Just in theory or a perceived reality for users of social network sites?

Social network sites (SNS) have the potential of providing new and more egalitarian spaces for public deliberation, and researchers, media and politicians often discuss them in those terms. Still, little attention is given to how ordinary users perceive SNS as spaces for public deliberation. This study addresses this gap by investigating how SNS generally are perceived by the users as potential spaces for public deliberation and if this perception is conditioned by demographic characteristics, such as age, gender, level of education, use of Twitter, and activity in SNS. The study draws on users of SNS in a nationally representative survey from Norway (N=1699). The results show signifi cant diff erences in the perception of SNS as spaces for public deliberation according to both demographic characteristics and activity. More importantly, even if people are aware of SNS being portrayed as spaces for public deliberation, few are found to use them in such a way.publishedVersio

Facebook as a public arena for women: infringing on democratic ideals and a cause of worry

Facebook allows users to engage in public discourse. However, debates on social network sites are criticised for damaging democracy by adding to polarisation, limiting perspectives, and promoting a derogatory tone driven by emotion and personal conviction rather than facts. Research has thus far mainly focused on visible participation on Facebook, while the experience of this public space remains under-theorised. This study provides insights into women's user experience of Facebook as an arena for public discourse by conducting qualitative interviews with 30 female users of Facebook (aged 19-74) in Norway. The findings revealed interpretive repertoires based on deliberative ideals and negativity toward activities that do not adhere to such ideals. However, the results also indicated that worry was a key factor in negotiating these ideals and sometimes unintentionally replacing them with behaviours that may be harmful to public discussion.publishedVersio

Why so quiet? Exploring inhibition in digital public spaces

Social network sites have been considered as important arenas for public debate, but as a large proportion of users do not actively participate, there is a need to further our understanding of a phenomenon as hidden, unnoticed and invisible as non-participation. We argue that inhibition is a valuable socio-psychological lens to study non-participation, usefully extending the conceptual framework of political communication regarding non-participation, and offering a more precise way of theorising the intent behind this apparent passivity. Using representative survey data collected in Norway in 2017 (N = 2064), we first sensitise the multi-layered concept of inhibition through combining different dominant approaches: the spiral-of-silence theory, the harsh debate climate, political efficacy, and specific properties of social network sites related to identity and impression management. Second, we show that inhibition functions as an in-between concept balancing participation and non-participation in social network sites. Through factor analysis principal component factor (PCF), we integrate established theories that allow us to define overarching dimensions of inhibition, demonstrating that it is a complex phenomenon not easily understood through one specific theoretical perspective.publishedVersio

Women's emotion work on Facebook: Strategic use of emotions in public discourse

Debates on Facebook are frequently accused of being too emotional, and rational arguments give way to anger, outrage, and polarisation. Emotions are often juxtaposed against reasoning in public deliberation, as they are not considered rational but coercive in nature. However, others would argue that emotions have a specific function in public discussion, as, for example, they can make an argument more genuine or trigger empathy. Considering that social network sites, such as Facebook, are designed to favour emotional engagement, it becomes clear that more understanding is needed about the experience of emotions in such debates. Based on 30 in-depth interviews, this study explores how emotions in Facebook debates are experienced and negotiated by Norwegian women. The findings show that while some emotions are disliked and considered non-conductive, other emotions are employed strategically. Moreover, the analysis demonstrates how the use and negotiation of emotions can be understood as emotion work

I nettdatingens alder - en studie av digitale forutsetninger og syn på nettdating på tvers av det digitale skillet

Vi lever i et samfunn der digitale medier har blitt helt vanlig, og sosiale medier har hatt en særlig fremvekst og økt popularitet. Mens rundt 90 % av ungdommer og unge voksne brukte et nettsamfunn i løpet av en gjennomsnittsuke i 2011, var snittet for de som er eldre langt lavere. Det er flere som peker på en tendens der de ser at tenåringer og unge voksne har innlemmet digital kultur og sosiale medier i livene sine i lang større grad enn generasjoner som vokste opp i pre-digitale tider, og at både bruk og opplevelse av medier vil være farget av våre digitale forutsetninger. Nettdating er en type sosialt medium som i likhet med andre har hatt enorm vekst, men nettdating har også hatt mer tvilsomt rykte enn andre sosiale medier. Det har gått fra å være noe som ble benyttet av visse typer mennesker; sosiale tapere og de som ikke greier å finne kjærlighet på vanlig" vis, til å bli det "vanlige viset". Vi vet lite om nettdating som skjer i Norge, men fra internasjonale studier er det vist at det har en særlig fokus på selvpresentasjon. Grunnen til det er at nettdating bruker stort sett match-funksjoner som ikke er tilknyttet navn eller sosiale nettverk, og i stedet blir koblinger gjort ut fra elementer i selvpresentasjonen, som da blir mer sentral og må systematisert i større grad. Selvpresentasjon er en naturlig del av alle sosiale samhandlinger og dermed er det spesielt interessant å følge bruken av dette inn i digitale medier. Da får vi se møtepunktet der mennesker med sine egne digitale forutsetninger og holdninger møter teknologien, og der et fenomen som er en naturlig del av å være menneske skal utføres digitalt med de begrensingene og muligheten som finnes der. "Hva er sammenhengen mellom alder, våre digitale forutsetninger og syn på nettdating? Og hvordan blir selvpresentasjon i nettdating farget av dette?" Denne problemstillingen vil belyses ved å intervjue kvinnelige nettdatere i to ulike aldersgrupper som er valgt med tanke på at de er på ulike sider av et digitalt skille 18-25 år og 45+ år. Svarene mellom de to gruppene vil sammenlignes i et forsøk på å se spor av dette skillet, og hvordan det i så fall utarter seg

English: English

Social network sites (SNS) have the potential of providing new and more egalitarian spaces for public deliberation, and researchers, media and politicians often discuss them in those terms. Still, little attention is given to how ordinary users perceive SNS as spaces for public deliberation. This study addresses this gap by investigating how SNS generally are perceived by the users as potential spaces for public deliberation and if this perception is conditioned by demographic characteristics, such as age, gender, level of education, use of Twitter, and activity in SNS. The study draws on users of SNS in a nationally representative survey from Norway (N=1699). The results show signifi cant diff erences in the perception of SNS as spaces for public deliberation according to both demographic characteristics and activity. More importantly, even if people are aware of SNS being portrayed as spaces for public deliberation, few are found to use them in such a way

Social network sites as arenas for public discourse : - perception, participation and experience

Social network sites (SNS) and Facebook, in particular, are often discussed and referred to as public spaces in popular discourse, by politicians and the media and are often theorised as such in the research literature. Still, the general user experience of such spaces as potentially public is thus far under-theorised. By using an audience-centric approach, this thesis challenges assumptions and theories around SNS as public spaces. The project aims to advance our understanding of the everyday user experience of publicness in SNS. Its main research question is: ‛How are social network sites experienced as spaces for public discourse in Norway?’. This research question is investigated through qualitative and quantitative methods, with an overall mixed-method research design. Two rounds of interviews and an online survey were deployed to contribute new insights to the research field. The combination of methods was considered necessary to match the complexity of the phenomenon investigated. The thesis addresses the general experience of SNS, and more particularly, women’s experience of Facebook. Drawing public sphere theory as a sensitising framework or starting point which offers core dimensions, language and concepts, the Norwegian and gendered experience of SNS as spaces for public discourse is explored. Research on SNS as public spaces frequently becomes a question of participation, although we have known for over a decade now that only a small proportion of SNS users take part in observable forms of participation, such as commenting, sharing or posting about public issues. Media and communication scholars still primarily focus on observable participation, and active involvement that is not visible for others has received little attention. This study addresses the general, everyday experience of SNS, regardless of observable activity, which is thus far under-theorised. Besides, the concept of the public sphere is unpacked by drawing on varied explanatory frameworks or theoretical approaches, such as looking at the use of emotion or experience of inhibition. The main empirical contribution of the thesis is that publicness in SNS is experienced as tension between risk and obligation, rationality and emotions, assumptions of publicness and everyday use, folk theories and own experience, and participation and inhibition. SNS can be, and frequently is, considered in two entirely different ways. One is the self-evident publicness that popular discourse refers to. The other is everyday use, which is mainly oriented around personal and social information and activity. The thesis also addresses the implicit and everyday use of the concept of the public sphere in Norway, which involves assumptions and deliberative ideals for public discourse on Facebook, despite the limited role issues of public relevance has in their everyday use of this platform. For these informants, such ideals include feeling like they should participate and take responsibility for discourse that is considered too emotional or not deliberative enough. They also express feeling guilty as they rarely visibly participate. A shared and pervasive narrative of SNS and Facebook as particularly hostile and dangerous spaces for voicing opinions was found, although the expectation of risk involved seemed to stem from popular discourse and rarely from direct personal experience. While there was extensive experience of inhibition in this material, there is little evidence to suggest that these SNS users are passive or do not care. A theoretical contribution of this thesis is to sensitise the concept of inhibition and extend the conceptual framework to go beyond participation or non-participation and instead offer a more precise way of theorising the intent behind apparent passivity

Social network sites as arenas for public discourse : - perception, participation and experience

Social network sites (SNS) and Facebook, in particular, are often discussed and referred to as public spaces in popular discourse, by politicians and the media and are often theorised as such in the research literature. Still, the general user experience of such spaces as potentially public is thus far under-theorised. By using an audience-centric approach, this thesis challenges assumptions and theories around SNS as public spaces. The project aims to advance our understanding of the everyday user experience of publicness in SNS. Its main research question is: ‛How are social network sites experienced as spaces for public discourse in Norway?’. This research question is investigated through qualitative and quantitative methods, with an overall mixed-method research design. Two rounds of interviews and an online survey were deployed to contribute new insights to the research field. The combination of methods was considered necessary to match the complexity of the phenomenon investigated. The thesis addresses the general experience of SNS, and more particularly, women’s experience of Facebook. Drawing public sphere theory as a sensitising framework or starting point which offers core dimensions, language and concepts, the Norwegian and gendered experience of SNS as spaces for public discourse is explored. Research on SNS as public spaces frequently becomes a question of participation, although we have known for over a decade now that only a small proportion of SNS users take part in observable forms of participation, such as commenting, sharing or posting about public issues. Media and communication scholars still primarily focus on observable participation, and active involvement that is not visible for others has received little attention. This study addresses the general, everyday experience of SNS, regardless of observable activity, which is thus far under-theorised. Besides, the concept of the public sphere is unpacked by drawing on varied explanatory frameworks or theoretical approaches, such as looking at the use of emotion or experience of inhibition. The main empirical contribution of the thesis is that publicness in SNS is experienced as tension between risk and obligation, rationality and emotions, assumptions of publicness and everyday use, folk theories and own experience, and participation and inhibition. SNS can be, and frequently is, considered in two entirely different ways. One is the self-evident publicness that popular discourse refers to. The other is everyday use, which is mainly oriented around personal and social information and activity. The thesis also addresses the implicit and everyday use of the concept of the public sphere in Norway, which involves assumptions and deliberative ideals for public discourse on Facebook, despite the limited role issues of public relevance has in their everyday use of this platform. For these informants, such ideals include feeling like they should participate and take responsibility for discourse that is considered too emotional or not deliberative enough. They also express feeling guilty as they rarely visibly participate. A shared and pervasive narrative of SNS and Facebook as particularly hostile and dangerous spaces for voicing opinions was found, although the expectation of risk involved seemed to stem from popular discourse and rarely from direct personal experience. While there was extensive experience of inhibition in this material, there is little evidence to suggest that these SNS users are passive or do not care. A theoretical contribution of this thesis is to sensitise the concept of inhibition and extend the conceptual framework to go beyond participation or non-participation and instead offer a more precise way of theorising the intent behind apparent passivity.Doktorgradsavhandlin

A digital public sphere: Just in theory or a perceived reality for users of social network sites?

Social network sites (SNS) have the potential of providing new and more egalitarian spaces for public deliberation, and researchers, media and politicians often discuss them in those terms. Still, little attention is given to how ordinary users perceive SNS as spaces for public deliberation. This study addresses this gap by investigating how SNS generally are perceived by the users as potential spaces for public deliberation and if this perception is conditioned by demographic characteristics, such as age, gender, level of education, use of Twitter, and activity in SNS. The study draws on users of SNS in a nationally representative survey from Norway (N=1699). The results show signifi cant diff erences in the perception of SNS as spaces for public deliberation according to both demographic characteristics and activity. More importantly, even if people are aware of SNS being portrayed as spaces for public deliberation, few are found to use them in such a way