Romantic relationship dissolution on social networking sites

Self-Presentation and public accounts of breakups on Facebook

Datos Bibliográficos

ID2931956
AutoresJ Fox (0000-0002-5018-3250, Ohio State University, USA, autor de correspondencia), J R Frampton (0000-0001-9436-7521, Illinois State University), Elizabeth Jones (0000-0001-5107-9300, Asbury University), Elizabeth B Jones (Asbury University), Kathryn Lookadoo (0000-0002-1214-1455, University of Texas at Dallas, USA)
Año2021
Volumen38
Número12
Páginas3732-3751
Fecha de publicación2021-12-01
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessSí
TipoARTICLE
RevistaJournal of Social and Personal Relationships (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 0265-4075 • E-ISSN: 1460-3608
EditorialSAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1177/02654075211052247
OpenAlexW3209141547
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas8
Referencias citadas27

Social media users post an endless stream of life updates, commentary, and other content. This online self-presentation constitutes a narrative that can be examined as a shared account. In this study, we tested the applicability of Duck's model of relational dissolution (Duck, 1982; Rollie & Duck, 2006) to participants' personal and public accounts of their romantic breakups on social networking sites (also referred to as social network sites). We adopted mixed methods (content analysis, survey, and interview) to examine emerging adults' ( N = 97) account-making during romantic relationship dissolution and the role of social media, specifically Facebook, in the process. Over 3500 posts and comments from before and after users' breakups were quantitatively and qualitatively content analyzed. Synthesizing these three data sources revealed patterns regarding users' selective self-presentation in masspersonal channels. Their dissolution accounts were shaped by perceptions of Facebook's social affordances, such as the visibility and persistence of posts, comments, and relational artifacts; social feedback (e.g., comments and "likes" from the online social network, usually for social support); conversational control (e.g., blocking and defriending); and network association, which created a diverse imagined audience and context collapse. Findings suggest that some of Duck's relational dissolution model manifests on social media, particularly social, gravedressing, and resurrection processes. Users consider and capitalize on perceived affordances of computer-mediated communication channels to construct, curate, or avoid public accounts of their breakups. Our study also provides a methodological framework for investigating user experiences and selective self-presentation on social media over time synthesizing quantitative and qualitative methods

Affordance · Cognitive psychology · Context (archaeology · Narrative · Presentation (obstetrics · Romance · Social media · Social network (sociolinguistics · World Wide Web · Attachment and Relationship Dynamics · Computer Science · Impact of Technology on Adolescents · Mental Health via Writing · Psychology · Social Psychology