The aim of this thesis is to provide insight into how YouTube audiences perceive the professionalization of vlog production styles and what happens to the parasocial relationship between viewer and vlogger, especially in relation to authenticity, in relation to this. This is done by a thematic analysis of comments on Valeria Lipovetsky’s YouTube video “We Need To Talk”, which serves as a case study. The analysis is done in background to theories of professionalization of influencers, parasocial relationships and authenticity. The results show that there is a tension between the perceived authenticity of the vlogger and the professionalization of vlog production style that is affecting the parasocial relationship between viewer and vlogger negatively. The distinguished themes point to vlogs filmed by a camera team being perceived to resemble reality television which is making the viewers feel disconnected with the vlogger. It is revealed that the audience prefers vlogs where the vlogger is holding the camera themselves, asthat is perceived as more personal and authentic.

Den 14 maj 2020 tillbringade Paolo Roberto kvällen i en lägenhet på Östermalm i Stockholm med en kvinna från ett av Europas fattigaste länder och greps på bar gärning i en polisrazzia. Stjärnkocken, skådespelaren och programledaren erkände sig skyldig till sexköp. I en intervju dagen därpå säger Roberto själv att kvinnan kanske var dittvingad. Nyheten väckte starka reaktioner i kommentarsfält på sociala medier. Syftet med studien är att undersöka hur användare uttrycker sig i kommentarsfält under en kontroversiell nyhet om ett laddat ämne som skapar delade åsikter. Vi kommer därför att analysera hur användare i kommentarsfältet på Facebook reagerade på intervjun med Paolo Roberto i TV4. Det uppsatsen intresserar sig för är hur deltagarjournalistiken bidrar till den offentliga diskursen om det känsliga ämnet sexköp, samt andra diskurser som uppkommer. Studien har två frågeställningar; en som undersöker vilka reaktioner finns i kommentarsfältet och en som undersöker hur reaktionerna kan förstås i ljuset av diskurserna om sexköp och medieetik. Uppsatsens teoretiska ramverk baseras på deltagarjournalistik och diskursteori. Studien är en kvalitativ textanalys, och genomför den textanalytiska dimensionen av Anabela Carvalhos (2008) apparat för kritisk diskursanalys. Ur det empiriska materialet har mönster identifierats varav tolv stycken har analyserats djupare. Exempel på dessa är att många beskriver Robertos beteende som att ”gråta ut” och att styra narrativet. En stor del av kommentarerna lägger även skuld på TV4 för att de ”låter” honom göra detta. Vissa ifrågasätter TV4:s medieetik och publicistiska beslut medan några ifrågasätter sexköpslagen och den allmänna synen på sexköp vilket snabbt konfronteras av andra. Uppsatsen drar slutsatser som att diskursen om sexköp domineras av perspektivet att det är moraliskt fel att köpa någon annans kropp, att det inte är medieetiskt att intervjua en förövare på sättet TV4 gjorde och att det finns en efterfrågan på ställningstagande och/eller agendadriven journalistik. Till sist dras slutsatsen att uppsatsens författare sällar sig till den stora skara forskare som ser en demokratisk potential i deltagarjournalistik men känner besvikelse över att den i mångt och mycket går förlorad. / May the 14th of 2020 the Swedish celebrity Paolo Roberto spent the evening in an apartment in a fancy neighborhood in Stockholm with a woman from one of the poorest countries in Europe, and was caught in the act of purchasing sexual services from her. The star chef, actor and TV host confessed to the police later that night. In an interview the following day, Roberto himself says that he suspects the woman was not there willingly. The news of his crime generated strong reactions in comment sections on social media. The purpose of the study is to examine how users express themselves in comment sections under a controversial news article about an emotionally charged subject. We will therefore analyze how users in a particular comment section on Facebook reacted to the interview with Paolo Roberto in TV4. The thesis is interested in how participatory journalism contributes to the public discourse about the emotionally charged subject of sex purchases, as well as other discourses that we may encounter. The study aims to answer two research questions; one that examines what reactions the comment section contains and one that examines how these reactions can be understood in the light of discourses of prostitution and media ethics. The theorical framework of the essay is based on participatory journalism and discourse theory. The thesis is a qualitative text analysis and utilizes the textual analytical dimension of Anabela Carvalho’s apparatus for critical discourse analysis (2008). From the empirical material patterns have been identified and 12 of these were selected for deeper analysis. Some examples of these are that many describe Roberto’s behavior as “sobbing” and controlling the narrative. A large part of the comment section blames TV4 for “letting” him do this. Some challenge the ethics and editorial decision of TV4 while others disagree with the Swedish model for prostitution and the mainstream view on purchasing sex, which will quickly be confronted by others. The conclusions of the thesis are that the prostitution discourse is dominated by the perspective that it is morally wrong to purchase someone else’s body, that it is not ethical to interview a perpetrator the way TV4 did and that there is demand for agenda-driven journalism. Finally, the conclusion is drawn that the authors of the essay are part of the large majority of scientists who see a democratic potential in participatory journalism but are disappointed by the fact that it is not harnessed.

The essay To negotiate truth is a cultural analytical study of the boundary work that takes place in the comment sections, more specifically in relations to the climate change debate and Greta Thunberg’s climate activism. This paper deals with empirical material in the form of comments obtained from the Swedish newspapers Aftonbladet’s and Expressen’s comment field on Facebook. The data-gathering method used for this paper is digital ethnography. This study aims to create an understanding of how argumentation is presented in open social arenas such as Expressen and Aftonbladet's comments field. The purpose of the study has been to show how the contested claims and facts are legitimized and negotiated in the comment fields. The theoretical framework has consisted of discourse theory and Boundary objects theory. The questions to be answered in the study is: In what way is truth constructed in the debate? How are the various claims of truth legitimized? In what way are facts and science used in the legitimization of the different claims of truths? The analysis shows that truth is constructed in many different ways, partly through what i choose to call denial and distrust discourse. The analysis also showed how climate research and the climate can be seen as a boundary object and be used to stabilize the denial discourse further. The result also showed that scientific evidence can be used in a variety of ways in the legitimization of the different claims of truth. On the one hand, there is a demand for more nuanced research to be presented in the media, this creates an image that there are two sides of climate science that are of equal importance. The analysis also showed how mistrust and doubt against established media, political processes and science in general can be used in the legitimization of various statements of truth. I also claim that Greta can be seen as a boundary object in the ongoing negotiation. The use of religious metaphors also proves to be of great importance in trying to undermine the climate issue and climate research in general.

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