Media studies, Vol. 8 No. 16, 2017.
Preliminary communication
https://doi.org/10.20901/ms.8.16.6
The Role of Facebook on the Romantic Relationships of Young People
Elena Družeta
orcid.org/0000-0003-0910-0289
; graduated in Communication studies at the University of Zagreb, Centre for Croatian Studies Studies and in Sociology, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Zagreb, Croatia
Nada Zgrabljić Rotar
; University of Zagreb, Centre for Croatian Studies, Croatia
Abstract
Social networks have become part of everyday life. Their great popularity and diverse impacts on their users have attracted a growing amount of research. This research focuses on the contemporary issues of the growing popularity of social networks, especially Facebook, and its role on romantic relationships. The literature unanimously confirms that the large exposure of young people to Facebook is potentially affecting their behaviour and relationships in general, including romantic ones. Modern use of Facebook has led to the creation of new, "non-natural" elements in sentimental relationships that lead to increased jealousy, mistrust, insecurity, workload and surveillance. Because similar studies have not yet been conducted in Croatia, for the purposes of this study we have conducted a quantitative analysis using a survey on a sample of 92 students of Communication Science at Croatian Studies at the University of Zagreb, and four in-depth interviews with female students of the same program. The results highlight that Facebook has an impact on romantic relationships – from developing, and maintaining until its dissolution. Most notable are the problems of jealousy and partner surveillance.
Keywords
social networks; Facebook; romantic relationships; new technologies
Hrčak ID:
192921
URI
Publication date:
20.12.2017.
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