Up until now, there has only been a limited amount of research in the field of online self- presentation in combination with young adults transitioning from a social to a professional self online. The purpose of this thesis is to extend the existing literature and address the gap by exploring how students present themselves before, during and after the transition from university to work. The study was built on the self-presentation theory by Erving Goffman (1959) in combination with the role identity theory as well as the career development framework by Donald Super (1980). To answer the research question and fulfill the purpose of this study an exploratory research method in combination with a qualitative, inductive research approach was chosen. Ten long, semi-structured, in-depth interviews were conducted using the long interview guide by McCracken. Individuals from Germany and Sweden between the ages of 21 and 26 were interviewed. The main findings showed that young adults categorize social media networks into two categories: private (social) and public (professional) applications. Individuals of the establishment phase meaning after transition to work represent a more professional self and alter other parts of the self. This process takes place over time and the representation of a professional self increased in importance and relevance. Individuals of the exploration phase meaning before transitioning to work show intentional behavior patterns towards their social self but not professional self. Therefore, the further individuals move towards the next life phase the more the presentation of the self moves towards a professional and intentional appearance online when in front stage. When in backstage privacy settings enable a carefully chosen audience for the more private self to be shared. The process of online self-presentation on social media is still a more intuitive process but the transition between different types of self can be linked to a stronger identification with a new life role. / Fram tills nu har det endast gjorts en begränsad mängd forskning inom online-självpresentation i kombination med unga vuxna som övergår från ett socialt till ett professionellt online-jag. Syftet med denna uppsats är att utöka den befintliga litteraturen och ta itu med kunskapsgapet genom att utforska hur studenter presenterar sig före, under och efter övergången från universitet till arbete. Studien byggdes på självpresentationsteorin av Erving Goffman (1959) i kombination med rollidentitetsteorin och karriärutvecklingsramen av Donald Super (1980). För att besvara forskningsfrågan och uppfylla syftet med denna studie valdes en explorativ forskningsmetod i kombination med en kvalitativ, induktiv forskningsstrategi. Tio halvstrukturerade djupintervjuer genomfördes med hjälp av McCrackens långa intervjuguide. Individer från Tyskland och Sverige i åldern 21 till 26 år intervjuades. De viktigaste resultaten visade att unga vuxna kategoriserar sociala medier i två kategorier: privata (sociala) och offentliga (professionella) användningsområden. Individer från etableringsfasen, som innebär fasen efter övergång till arbete, representerar ett mer professionellt jag i jämförelse med andra delar av jaget. Denna process sker över tid och representationen av ett professionellt jag ökade i betydelse och relevans. Individer i utforskningsfasen, vilket innebär fasen innan övergång till arbete, visar avsiktliga beteendeförändringar mot sitt sociala jag men inte mot det professionella jaget. Följaktligen, desto längre individer rör sig mot nästa livsfas, desto mer rör sig självpresentationen mot ett professionellt och avsiktligt framträdande online när de befinner sig på den publika scenen. När de befinner sig i bakgrunden kan det mer privata jaget delas för en noggrant utvald publik. Processen med självpresentation online på sociala medier är fortfarande en mer intuitiv process men övergången mellan olika typer av jag kan kopplas till en starkare identifiering med en ny livsroll.

Denna språkvetenskapliga studie syftar till att synliggöra och diskutera kring hur olika genredrag, diskurser och identiteter tas i uttryck genom kundklubbars självpresentationer. Detta för att se på vilket sätt kundklubbar framställer sig själva i jakten på att värva, behålla och främja lojala kunder. I studien deltar åtta företag, vars kundklubbar har presenterats textuellt på respektive företags hemsida. För att hitta betydelsebärande moment i texterna har den systemisk-funktionella grammatiken tillämpats, och genom interpersonella och ideationella textanalyser har genredrag och diskurser synliggjorts. Det dras även paralleller till hur genredragen kan fungera identitetsskapande, och det diskuteras utifrån detta om hur kundklubben skapar en åtråvärd identitet både hos sig själv och sina medlemmar. Detta kopplas även till riktlinjer inom reklamgenren. Resultatet visar en tydlig struktur där kunder erbjuds exklusiva förmåner och en åtråvärd identitet i utbyte mot att registrera sig i klubben. Medlemmar intar en passiv roll som ansträngningslöst får eller tjänar på klubbens alla fördelar, medan kundklubbarna framställs som aktiva skapare och resursrika försörjare. Här framträder även en säljdiskurs, som ställs i kontrast till en dold konsumtionsdiskurs. Negativa aspekter, så som kostnader och villkor, osynliggörs och fokus ligger snarast på att beskriva den positiva upplevelsen och lönsamheten med att vara medlem i kundklubben. / This linguistic study aims to find, highlight and discuss how different genre features, discourses and identities are constructed in text based self-presentations of a customer club. The purpose is to see how these presentations are produced in the quest to recruit, retain and promote loyal customers. The study involves eight companies, whose customer clubs has been presented textually on each company's website. To find important features in the texts, the systemic-functional grammar is applied, and through interpersonal- and ideation text analyzes, the genre features and discourses can be identified. Parallels are also drawn to the genre features connection and creation in works of identity. A comparison to the advertising genre is also made. Based on this, a discussion of what linguistic methods customer clubs use to create a desirable identity both in themselves and their members, becomes a central part in the analysis. The result shows that there is a clear structure, in which customers are offered exclusive benefits and a coveted identity in exchange for enrolling in the club. In the presentations, members play a passive role that effortlessly gets or earns all the listed benefits while the customer clubs on the other hand, are portrayed as an active and resourceful distributor. A sales discourse also emerges here, which contrasts with a hidden consumption discourse. Negative aspects, such as costs and conditions, are made invisible and the presentation mainly focuses on describing the positive experience and all the benefits of being a member of the customer club.

Over the last couple of years’ social media has come to have an influential role in our lives. With the broad use questions has raised if social media use can have negative effects. We have seen a recurrent tendency in media and society that encourage people to overlook their social media use and seen cases of people reducing their private social media use. The purpose of this study is to examine attitudes in young adults whom have taken a break from social media or reduced their usage. Furthermore, we wanted to distinguish what types of strategies they have used when they renounced from social media. With a qualitative approach we interviewed five young adults that had waived from social media during different periods of time due to negative usage experiences. We examined our empirical material along side with previous research on social media, Goffman’s impression management theory and Nanna Gillberg’s notion on Bourdieu’s forms of capital. We found that people tend to see the opportunity of impression control as something tedious and time consuming which had lead to a diminished use of social media. When tackle this aspect of social media, it came down to reducing your usage to an extent without having to compromise the possibility social media offers to keep in contact with friends.

In 2020, 89% of Internet users in Sweden used social media and young women reported the highest frequency of use. Through a qualitative approach, the aim was to gain an understanding of young women's experiences of their social media use and online self-presentation. The participants were women between the ages of 18-23 years. Seven semi-structured interviews were conducted and analysed using thematic analysis, which resulted in three main themes: Another reality, It Will Probably Get Better And Between The Own Will Of Being Sexy And The Pressure To Be So. The results showed that young women present their ideal-selves, that likes were a controlling mechanism and comparisons online were perceived to be endless. Furthermore, it was described that young women's bodies are presented on the basis of the ideals and the pressure to have the ideal body was perceived to be constantly present on social media. However, there were also experiences of a more positive wave emerging on social media, which is instead characterized by acceptance of one's own and other women's bodies. Finally, an ambivalence was captured in the participants to, on the one hand, want to share sexually challenging images of themselves, and, on the other hand, feel pressure from others to do so. / År 2020 använde 89% av internetanvändarna i Sverige sociala medier och unga kvinnor rapporterade högst användningsfrekvens. Genom en kvalitativ ansats var syftet att få en ökad förståelse för unga kvinnors upplevelser av sin sociala medieanvändning och framställning online. Deltagarna var kvinnor i åldrarna 18-23 år. Sju semistrukturerade intervjuer genomfördes och analyserades utifrån tematisk analys, vilket resulterade i tre huvudteman: En annan verklighet, Det blir nog bättre samt Mellan den egna viljan och pressen på att vara sexig. Resultaten visade att unga kvinnor framställer sig utifrån sina bästa sidor, att likes var en styrande mekanism och jämförelser online upplevdes vara oändliga. Vidare beskrevs att unga kvinnors kroppar framställs utifrån idealen och kroppshetsen upplevdes vara konstant närvarande på sociala medier. Däremot fanns även upplevelser av en mer positiv våg som tar sig fram på sociala medier, vilken istället kännetecknades av acceptans gentemot sin egen och andra kvinnors kroppar. Avslutningsvis fångades en ambivalens hos deltagarna att å ena sidan själva vilja dela med sig av sexuellt utmanande bilder, å andra sidan känna en press från andra att göra det.

A qualitative study of the Swedish party leader’s presentation on Instagram.  Social media has become a big part of political communication. It makes it possible to spread messages and information directly to its voters without having to go through the traditional media, which they needed to before the age of social media. After finding a research gap about politicians' presentation on Instagram in a Swedish context, this study aims to examine four Swedish party leaders' presentations on Instagram by using qualitative methods where their image and text art studied. The study is based on Goffman's dramaturgical perspective and the phenomenon of personal branding.  The study shows that the party leaders' posts have a clear political focus with varied personal elements in the self-presentation depending on the party leader and the political affiliation. Posts with political content show a prominence that aims to emphasize its role as a leader, which is enhanced by the formal dress and the setting shown in the pictures. These posts are aimed to influence, inform and enlighten. The more private and personal pictures are supposed to present an ordinary side of the party leader and create recognition that the voters can relate to by showing emotions, family life and hobbies. But even though these pictures may feel personal and look like the party leader lets the followers into private life, there is an impression control, where they themselves have chosen what they want to share and highlight the sides in the self that they want to associate their personal brand with.