What adolescents think of relationship portrayals on social media: a qualitative study
Melody Taba
A K , Larissa Lewis A B , Spring Chenoa Cooper C , Kath Albury D , Kon Shing Kenneth Chung E , Megan Lim F G , Deborah Bateson H I , Melissa Kang J and S. Rachel Skinner A
A Discipline of Child and Adolescent Health, Faculty of Medicine and Health, The University of Sydney, Children’s Hospital Westmead Clinical School, Locked Bag 4001, corner Hawkesbury Road and Hainsworth Street, Westmead, NSW 2145, Australia.
B The Kirby Institute, The University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW 2052, Australia.
C Graduate School of Public Health and Health Policy, City University of New York, New York, NY 10027, USA.
D School of Arts, Social Sciences and Humanities, Swinburne University of Technology, Hawthorn, Vic. 3122, Australia.
E School of Project Management, Faculty of Engineering, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2037, Australia.
F Center for Population Health, Burnet Institute, Melbourne, Vic. 3004, Australia.
G School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, Monash University, Melbourne, Vic. 3004, Australia.
H Family Planning New South Wales, Ashfield, NSW 2131, Australia.
I Discipline of Obstetrics, Gynaecology and Neonatology, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia.
J Faculty of Health, Australian Centre for Public and Population Health Research, University of Technology Sydney, Ultimo, NSW 2007, Australia.
K Corresponding author. Email: melody.taba@sydney.edu.au
Sexual Health 17(5) 467-474 https://doi.org/10.1071/SH20056
Submitted: 9 April 2020 Accepted: 3 September 2020 Published: 12 November 2020
Journal Compilation © CSIRO 2020 Open Access CC BY
Abstract
Background: Understanding the factors influencing adolescents’ relationship views is important because early romantic relationships often act as precursors for relationships in adulthood. This study sought to examine the types of relationship-focused content adolescents witness on social media and how they perceive its effect on their romantic relationship beliefs. Methods: Sixteen semistructured interviews were conducted with Australian adolescents aged 16–19 years who were purposively sampled from a larger longitudinal study. Interview transcripts were analysed qualitatively using constructivist grounded theory. Results: Participants described the types of romantic relationship portrayals they saw on social media, including relationship-focused trends like ‘Relationship Goals’ and ‘Insta-Couples’. Participants explained their ability to identify incomplete and unrealistic relationship portrayals, as well as the pressure to share their relationships online in the same incomplete fashion. Views regarding the influence of social media were varied, but most believed social media relationship portrayals had some level of influence on young people’s relationship views; some participants believed this occurred regardless of awareness of the incompleteness of the online portrayal. Conclusions: Although participant interview data revealed the pervasiveness of social media relationship portrayals, it also revealed the sophisticated capabilities of adolescents in critiquing online media portrayals.
Keywords: adolescent, grounded theory, Internet, online, romantic relationships, social media, young adult, young people.
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