Young people’s ‘post-digital’ relationships during Covid-19 ‘lockdowns’ in England

Datos Bibliográficos

ID6443549
AutoresEmily Setty (0000-0002-2085-7963, University of Surrey, autor de correspondencia), Emma Dobson (0000-0002-1300-5607, Newcastle University)
Año2024
Volumen27
Número11
Páginas6295-6314
Fecha de publicación2024-08-10
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessSí
TipoARTICLE
RevistaNew Media & Society (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 1461-4448 • E-ISSN: 1461-7315
EditorialSAGE Publishing (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1177/14614448241266770
OpenAlexW4401483716
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas3
Referencias citadas48

The lockdown imposed in England in response to the COVID-19 pandemic involved an unprecedented ‘shift to digital’, including in relationships between non-cohabiting individuals. This article examines young people’s perspectives on and experiences of using networked communication technologies (NCTs) in romantic relationships during lockdown, based on 14 focus groups (n = 80) and interviews (n = 38) conducted with young people in England during 2021–2022. Using critical realist theory, we identify interplays between lockdown as a condition, NCT affordances and wider norms, meanings and expectations for relationships. Participants were ambivalent about interacting online during lockdown, with interlocking risks and opportunities specific to and transcending lockdown as a condition. Implications are discussed regarding meanings and experiences of post-digital relationships for young people, both during and post-pandemic

2019-20 coronavirus outbreak · Affordance · Ambivalence · Avatar · Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19 · Focus group · Pandemic · Romance · Sociology · Attachment and Relationship Dynamics · Gender, Feminism, and Media · Medicine · Psychology · Social Psychology · Work-Family Balance Challenges