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Young people's presentations of relationships in a Swedish Internet community

MALIN SVENINGSSON ELM is a lecturer and researcher at the department of Media and Communication Studies at Karlstad University. She received her Ph.D. in 2001 from the department of Communication Studies, Linköping University. Her publications include Creating a Sense of Community. Experiences from a Swedish Web Chat (Linköping Studies in Art and Science, 2001), and she is a coauthor of Digital Borderlands: Cultural Studies of Identity and Interactivity on the Internet (with Johan Fornäs, Kajsa Klein, Martina Ladendorf and Jenny Sundén [2002]) and Cyberfeminism in Northern lights. Gender and digital media in a Nordic context (with Jenny Sundén [forthcoming]). As a member of the Association of Internet Researchers’ ethics working group, she has taken part in developing ethical guidelines for Internet research (aoir.org/reports/ethics.pdf). Her research interests include computer-mediated communication, social interaction, youth culture, identity, gender and popular culture. Address: Department of Media and Communication Studies, Karlstad University, Universitetgatan 2, 651 88 Karlstad, Sweden. [email: malin.sveningsson{at}kau.se]

One of the most popular Swedish online meeting places is Lunarstorm, which is visited weekly by 85 per cent of all Swedes aged 15–20. This study aims at looking at young men's and women's presentations of self at Lunarstorm, focusing specifically on how personal relationships are represented. This is done by quantitative content analyses of 500 users’ personal pages. Results show that in many respects, the presentations follow a gender stereotypical pattern. More women than men emphasize their relationships and express stronger feelings about them. However, one exception was the way romantic relationships are addressed, where both men and women express strong feelings towards their relationships and partners.

Key Words: Internet community • social relationships • youth • gender identity • stereotypes • Sweden

Young, Vol. 15, No. 2, 145-167 (2007)
DOI: 10.1177/110330880701500203


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