PSRs are one-sided, emotionally-tinged relationships with media characters such as Peter Pan, Batman; Disney characters such as Mickey Mouse, Cinderella, and Mulan; and celebrities such as Justin Bieber, Rihanna, and Harry Stiles (Giles, 2000). This project situates children’s PSRs within the family communication environment by exploring the relationships between Family Communication Patterns (FCPs), parental management of PSRs, and perceptions of parent-child bonding. Four parental management of PSRs behaviors, Guiding, Prohibiting, Supporting, and Neutrality, were studied with respect to the Conversation and Conformity orientations of FCPs. Parental management behaviors of Guiding, Prohibiting, and Supporting had significant impacts on perceptions of parent-child bonding, but Neutrality on its own did not have any significant influence. Guiding was manifested through the FCP path of Conformity instead of Conversation. Prohibiting had a strong inverse relationship with perceptions of parent-child bonding. Besides Conformity, Prohibiting also had a significant pathway through Conversation. Supporting had a strong and positive relationship with perceptions of parent-child bonding and a significant pathway through Conversation but not through Conformity. Although Neutrality on its own did not have a significant impact, it had a significant impact through Conformity. Overall, this study fulfills its goal to look at the impact of parental communication behaviors on perceptions of the parent-child relationship. In the context of PSRs, parental communication about managing children’s PSRs is significantly related to the perceptions of parent-child bonding, and the impact of these micro communication behaviors is mediated by the overarching communication environment. Therefore, this study recommends that PSRs can be introduced to the mainstream discussion of interpersonal relationships such that family communication scholarship can explore the role of PSRs beyond media effects.

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Influencermarknadsföring ses idag som det mest effektiva sättet att nå kunder i deras vardag. Idag består företagets marknadsföringsbudgetar främst av influencer marknadsföringsaktiviteter. Företag söker influencers som kan kommunicera och förmedla företagets budskap via sina sociala medieplattformar till sina anhängare - företagens potentiella kunder. Följande studie syftar till att undersöka förhållandet mellan influencers och deras följare samt hur detta påverkar följarens förtroende till influencern. Detta kommer att ske genom att utvärdera följarnas uppfattning om influencerns ärlighet och äkthet samt vidare analysera hur det påverkar influencerns trovärdighet i sina samarbeten med ett varumärken. För att förstå hur influencers trovärdighet påverkas av deras val samarbeten, kommer relationen mellan influencers personal brand och företagets identitet att undersökas ytterligare. Detta kommer att för att förstå hur brand fit påverkar följarnas relation beträffande förtroende till influencern. Studien består av kvalitativa semistrukturerade intervjuer som syftar till att ge en djupare förståelse i ämnet. En kvantitativ digital undersökning har också gjorts för att ge läsaren en allmän förståelse för unga kvinnors relation med influencers på Instagram. Genom att analysera det empiriska materialet finner vi att ärlighet i influencers samarbeten kommer att generera följares tillit till influencern. Om influencern samarbetar med ett företag som inte överensstämmer med dennes personal brand, kommer följarnas förtroende till influencern att skadas och influencern uppfattas som oärlig och falsk. Detta kommer också att skada influencerns personal brand. Vidare finner vi att ett långt förhållandet mellan influencern och deras följare skapar ett stabilt förhållande gällande tillit, ärlighet och äkthet även i samarbeten. Det här är också fallet med ambassadörskap, där ett långt förhållande mellan en influencer och ett varumärke överensstämmer med varandra. Detta genererar i ökad trovärdighet från influencerns följare. / Influencer marketing is today seen to be the most effective way to reach customers in their everyday life. Today, companies marketing budgets consists mostly of influencer marketing activities. Companies are searching for influencers who can communicate and convey the companies message through their social media platforms to their followers - the companies potential customers. The following study aims to investigate the relationship between influencers and their followers and how this affects the followers trust towards the influencer. This will be done by evaluating followers perception of the influencers honesty and authenticity and further analyze how this affects the influencers trustworthiness in their collaborations with a brand. To understand how the influencers trustworthiness is affected by their choice of collaboration, the relationship between the influencers personal brand and the company's identity will be investigated further. This will be done to understand how brand fit affects the followers relationship in terms of trustworthiness. The study consists of qualitative semi structured interviews which aims to provide a depth to the survey. A quantitative digital survey has also been done to provide the reader with a general understanding of young women’s relationship with influencers on Instagram. By analyzing the empirical material we find that honesty in influencers collaborations will generate in followers trust towards the influencer. If the influencer collaborates with a company that is not in line with the influencers personal brand, the followers trust towards the influencer will be damaged and the influencer will be seen as dishonest and fake. This will also damage the influencers personal brand. Further, we find that long relationship between the influencer and their followers creates a more stable relationship in case of trust, honesty and authenticity even in the influencers collaborations. This is also the case of ambassadorship, where a long relationship between an influencer and a brand correspond with each other. This reflects in generated trustworthiness from the influencers followers.

In this thesis I will use a ‘men’s rights’ influencers fanbase as an example of a new generation of people who values toxic and traditional masculinity. I will do so by doing a critical discourse analysis on 1200 comments from the platform Reddit, using Fairclough's three-dimensional model as inspiration. Furthermore, to deepen the analysis I have chosen to analyze the comments in relation to parasocial relationships, hegemonic masculinity as well as the concepts of traditional and toxic masculinity. I found through my analysis that the fanbase views the influencer as a form of ‘beacon of truth’, and made a plethora of external references in regards to the movie 'The Matrix’. Moreover, the fans articulate masculinity in a way where ‘strength’ is prevalent, and is in line with traditional and toxic masculinity - whilst holding the influencer as a form of ideal of this form. In the discussion I draw parallels to how referencing the Matrix as a concept could speak of a mistrust towards the government, and how the countermovement to ‘modern’ masculinity could result in dangerous practices. To conclude, I highlight how there is still more research to be done on the field of alternative influencers and what consequences this ‘countermovement’ may have.

This study examines how pop culture fandoms are formed, based on five communications theories: Escapism, Mood Management, Parasocial Relationships, Identification, and Social Capital. The researcher examined the Harry Potter fandom specifically because of its global pervasiveness. Using Q Methodology, 47 respondents fell into one of four categories: Relationship Experts, Happy Introverts, Identifying Isolationists, and Isolated Self-regulators. Relationship Experts like Harry Potter because of parasocial relationships with the characters as well as the story's capacity for escapism, and Happy Introverts focus on liking Harry Potter for their own enjoyment (not that of others) and mood management. Identifying Isolationists like Harry Potter because they identify with the characters and enjoy discussing the books with those around them, while Isolated Self-regulators do not have any parasocial relationships and focus on the books' mood management capacity. It is interesting to note that Escapism played a supporting (but never leading) role in each of these Factors. All respondents agree that Harry Potter has been, and will continue to be, an important part of their lives. It is hoped that this conclusion can form the foundation of future popular culture studies.

This study explores how knowledge and reality is constructed within an online fandom’s communication, with a focus on LGBTQ+ discourse within Taylor Swift’s fans on Reddit. This is done through a qualitative digital ethnographic method and uses LGBTQ+ symbols and parasocial relationships as tools to analyse 75 posts and 850 comments total. The theoretical framework mainly consists of Berger and Luckmann’s (1966) theory on the social construction of reality and Couldry and Hepp’s (2017) reinterpretation of their work that considers the effects of digitalization and how our construction of reality has changed with it. The analysis showed that the group uses symbols to build a shared collection of facts and continuously follows an us-versus-them narrative to construct their community. Their foundational belief that Swift herself is secretly queer is not to be too closely questioned within the group and they often use the version of Swift that outsiders have built up to discuss hypothetical what-ifs. To participate in the community and be seen as “logical” it appears to require that you to some extent correctly consume the media in a way that aligns with pre- existing facts that the group shares. Meaning that the group has unspoken rules that dictate the knowledge hierarchies within it.

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