Många människor använder sig idag av olika sociala medier som sin främsta utgångspunkt för information och kommunikation. Bland de sociala medier som används mest har TikTok kommittill att bli en av de mest populära, främst bland den yngre publiken. Innehållet på TikTok har kommit till att bli ett nav för delvis humor och underhållning, men å andra sidan opinionsbildning och åsiktsspridning. Eftersom TikTok är en sådan ny plattform finns det stora forskningsluckorkring mediets funktioner och hur dessa funktioner kan användas för att sprida budskap av alla olika slag. Detta resulterar i spridning av åsikter som inte alltid är hälsosamma. Ett ämne som har på senare tid fått stor spridning på plattformen är kring vad det är att vara “man” idag. Det finns många studier om maskulinitet, men forskning om maskulinitet på TikTok är bristande. Denna studie är därav ämnad till att undersöka hur åsikter kring maskulinitet kan konstrueras i plattformens videomaterial. I denna studie analyserade vi, sammantaget, sex olika videoklipp från TikTok med hjälp av en multimodal kritisk diskursanalys. Den kvalitativa textanalys metoden valdes för att ge oss möjlighet till att analysera och utvinna så många olika visuella och auditiva komponenter i videoklippen somvi ansåg vara relevanta och på så sätt hitta underliggande konnotationer i allt från kroppsspråk till musikval. Vi analyserar videoklippen utifrån ett teoretiskt ramverk som består av bland annat representation, stereotyper och hegemoni. Vårt resultat gav oss två diskurser; Hotad maskulinitet och Maskulinitet som ett spektrum, som presenterar sambanden i vårt material. Det gav oss en ökad insikt om hur TikTok material konstruerar och reproducerar maskulinitet genom semiotiska resurser grundade i hegemoni. De åtskilda trenderna har en tendens att försöka positionera den motsvarande representationen av maskulinitet som överlägsen gentemot andra. Det konstrueras ytterligheter för att visa på rätt och fel. Slutsatsen är att konstruktionen av maskulinitet grundar sig i samma stam, men växer sig ut i olika förgreningar. Vår studie bidrar till insikt kring hur toxisk maskulinitet reproduceras genom TikTok, likt genom andra plattformar, och förhoppningsvis kan insikterna förebygga att detta mönster fortsätter att froda. / Many people today use various social media as their starting point for information and communication. Among the most used social media, TikTok has developed into one of the most popular, mainly among the younger audience. The content on TikTok has come to be a hub for partly humor and entertainment but on the other hand for advocacy and opinion spreading. Because TikTok is such a new platform, there are large research gaps around the medium's functions and how these functions can be used to spread messages of all different kinds. This results in the spread of opinions that are not always healthy. A topic that has recently been widely spread on the platform is about what it is to be a "man" today. There are many studies on masculinity, but research on masculinity on TikTok is lacking. This study is therefore intended to investigate how opinions about masculinity can be constructed in the platform's video material. In this study, we analyzed six different videos from TikTok using multimodal critical discourse analysis. The qualitative text analysis method was chosen to allow us to analyze and extract as many different visual and auditory components in the clips as we thought relevant and thus find underlying connotations in everything from body language to music choices. We analyze the clips based on a theoretical framework that consist of, among other things, representation, stereotypes and hegemony. Our result gave us two discourses; Threatened Masculinity and Masculinity as a Spectrum, which present the connections in our material. It gave us an increased insight into how TikTok material construct and reproduce masculinity through semiotic resources grounded in hegemony. The separate trends tend to try to position the corresponding representation of masculinity as superior to others. Extremes are constructed to demonstrate right and wrong. The conclusion is that the construction of masculinity is based on the same stem but grows in different branches. Our study contributes to insight in how toxic masculinity is reproduced through TikTok, much as through other platforms, and hopefully the insights can prevent this pattern from continuing to thrive.

Den här studien undersöker om det går att återfinna en gestaltning av en ung kvinna idag som använder sin sexualitet som främsta vapen i TV-serien Euphoria. Forskning imom humaniora tyder på att kvinnor i allt yngre ålder lär sig att använda sin sexualitet till sin fördel. Med multimodal kritisk diskursanalys har jag undersökt hur sexualiteten, med ett urval av semiotikens verktyg, i det här fallet färg, symboler och kameravinklar, gestaltas. Vidare har jag undersökt om den unga kvinnan av idag som gestaltas tycks göra just det, använda sin sexualitet som främsta vapen. Detta genom att se till om någonting talar för att hon använder sig av självrepresentation för att representera sexualiteten. Studiens viktigaste resultat är att det går att återfinna tydliga tecken som talar för att den gestaltade unga kvinnan använder sig av sin sexualitet för att gynna den egna självrepresentationen och vidare utvinna makt. / This study is looking to investigate the conscious use of represented sexuality by a young, female character from the TV-series Euphoria. Studies within humanities show that women at early ages learn how to use their sexuality as a weapon. Using multimodal critical discouse analysis, I aim to investigate how this sexuality, with semiotic tools such as color, symbols and angles, is represented. Furthermore, I aim to see if there are any signs of conscious self-representation or use of the sexuality by the young woman, and if it equal power. The most important results found are the clear signs that show how the young woman does indeed use her sexuality for her own benefit. As well as how she, by conscious self-representation gains power.

How emotions resonate: A comparative multimodal critical discourse analysis of the campaigns Det är inte för sent and Jag lovar, det är inte värt det. This study aims to identify communication strategies in campaigns against children in gang violence, which is relevant as the challenge shows an increasing tendency in Sweden. This is done by using a multimodal critical discourse analysis on the Det är inte för sent campaign from 2023 by the Swedish non-profit association Bris and Jag lovar, det är inte värt det from 2023 by the Swedish Police. The empirical data has been analyzed through a theoretical framework and chosen analytical tools such as modality, connotation and interaction.Based on the multimodal critical discourse analysis, it has been possible to identify different communication strategies in the campaigns. The result from the analysis shows that there are both similarities and differences between the campaigns. Both campaigns feature accounts from people who have experienced the consequences of gang violence, evoking emotions such as sadness and empathy in the viewer. The main difference between the campaigns is based on its framing. In Det är inte för sent, the message is framed around the idea that young people are affected by gang crime and are not considered perpetrators, while Jag lovar, det är inte värt det.

ABSTRACTEnglish translation of the title: The woman’s right to life – A multimodal critical discourse analysis of abortions rights in RFSU: s external communication.  A topic that has sparked more controversy in recent times, is the abortion rights of women. Lately ideas surrounding the abolishment of abortion rights have been more normalized in society. Restrictive abortion laws have been implemented in countries such as the USA and Poland. The aim of this study was to investigate how the organization RFSU is communicating reproductive rights, specifically the abortion rights and abortion resilience discourse, as well as their organizational identity. The study also aimed to investigate how an organization can encourage people to engage and participate in a digital environment. To answer these aims, two main categories of theories were used. The first category focused on social movements theory and framing, which helps to understand how social movements are presented on social media. The second category focused on external communication and visual identity and provided a perspective on how an organization can use external communication to portray the abortion rights discourse and increase participation among recipients in digital social movements. A qualitative method was used, combining a multimodal critical discourse analysis process with Fairclough’s three-dimensional model. The results of the study showed that maternal mortality, abortion, and sexual information were common themes communicated on RFSU’s Instagram. The results also showed that the abortion rights discourse was usually mentioned in relation to the abortion resilience discourse. However, abortion rights were portrayed as necessary for women’s reproductive rights and threatened by the increasing prevalence of abortion resilience ideas in society. The abortion resilience discourse was represented as a problem due to the danger that restrictive abortion laws pose to women’s lives. Participation was encouraged using hashtags that encouraged people to forward the information on social media or took place in real life and afterwards posting on social media. The organizational identity was portrayed using the same red colour and realistic photos, creating recognition for the organization. In conclusion, abortion rights were portrayed as necessary due to the increasing prevalence of abortion resilience ideas in the world.  Keywords: Abortion, Abortion rights, Multimodal critical discourse analysis, external organization communication, Participation

Research suggests that society is facing continued increasing economic inequalities where structural forces such as neoliberalism and globalisation are behind the emergence of a new group of globally super-rich. Since media is a place where social class is expressed, depicted and represented, it can have a particularly important role regarding what discourses about the global upper class are generated. The purpose of this study is to critically examine how the portrayal and re-contextualisation of the global upper class can produce discourses, by specifically analysing semiotic elements in the film Triangle of Sadness by Ruben Östlund. The following research question was formed: What discourses are produced about the globally super-rich in the film Triangle of Sadness?  The theoretical framework of this study has a critical point of departure, according to which media is not a neutral means of communication, and through various expressions media can produce discourses that serve certain groups and interests. This framework also includes contrasting the concept of culture industry to other perspectives such as Bourdieu’s field theory, which serves the study as reflective perspectives that can provide generalising arguments about the role that the film industry plays in a society. The method used in this study is a multimodal critical discourse analysis, which permits a rather detailed analysis of a choice of semiotic resources in the chosen film. The selection of empirical material was made by first watching the film as a whole, then identifying relevant parts for analysis. The sequences were chosen based on where the super-rich are in focus and portrayed in the film. The analysis is structured by the identified discourses in regard to the representation of the super-rich. The result of the study is that Triangle of Sadness produces five discourses about the globally super-rich: The extreme wealth of the global super-rich, the global super-rich as wicked, the fall of the global super-rich, the super-rich as vulnerable and the super-rich as powerless. Overall, the film is a mockery of the super-rich. An explanation for why Östlund produces this discourse, according to Bourdieu, could have to do with his position as a consecrated avant-garde in the production field.

The purpose of this study is to examine how three volunteer organizations present volunteer projects on their websites to identify who is constructed as central in the description of the project and which role is created for the reader. This study uses Multimodal Critical Discourse Analysis (MCDA), Systemic Functional Grammar (SFG) and Post-colonial theory as a theoretical framework to analyze visual and textual elements from three project descriptions. The findings indicate that the project descriptions of two of the organizations highlight the volunteer worker, while at the same time using a tourism discourse in creating the reader’s role. The findings also show that the third organization highlights the beneficiaries of the volunteer work, while creating the reader role of a friend. Additionally, the findings indicate the existence of underlying collective beliefs that can be connected to post-colonial structures in two of the project descriptions but not in the third. The conclusion is that who is highlighted, and the role created for the reader, differ between the three organizations. Two of the organizations focus more on the volunteer worker, and this coincides with the occurrence of Othering. The third organization focus more on the beneficiaries, with no occurrence of Othering.

This study, Life at Skanska, aims to examine how Skanska Sweden portrays gender norms on Instagram, differentiating between their official Swedish account, @skanskasverige, and their employee-driven account, @livetpaskanska. The analysis is based on previous research on gender studies with a focus on male-dominated industries, as well as social media and how companies can use it to their advantage. The method used for the study was a multimodal semiotic analysis and with this method an analysis of five posts from each account was made. To support the analysis theories regarding gender, representation, ambassadorship, and social identity were applied to the study.   The study reveals that there are variations in how gender is represented on both accounts. Most notable being the differences in lexical choices and communications strategies. On the official account, @skanskasverige, there is a variation of images presenting both women and men therefore signifying diverse perspectives. However lexical choices, such as job titles, may partly diminish women’s credibility. In comparison, @livetpaskanska, present a more diverse and inclusive representation of women, which can be a side-effect of it being an employee-driven account. In a comparing analysis of the two accounts the differences between them became clear in how they represent women on the channels. On @livetpaskanska women tend to be more present in the content than on @skanskasverige. The study identifies differences in communication styles, indicating that the employee-driven account prioritizes individual achievements and experiences, while the official account emphasized corporate identity and the company’s values.

After the attacks by Hamas on Israel on October 7th and the offensive on Palestine that followed, a group of young Palestinians have taken the role of sharing witness of the ongoing genocide through social media. This thesis investigates how these citizen journalists are bearing witness to the ongoing genocide and how social media audiences are reacting to these images. By analyzing the discourses present in their posts through a Multimodal Critical Discourse Analysis (MCDA) and systematically observing the comments under said posts through a thematic analysis, this thesis demonstrates that there is a relation between shared discourses and audience reactions. The study argues that vulnerability is being used as an act of resistance, and that discourses involving vulnerability and eye-witnessing are common in these posts and inspire emotional reactions and sentiments of resistance in the audiences, and further demonstrates how the analyzed citizen journalists seem to share similar discourses and feelings while using several modes of address in variating ways from post to post. All these findings show that the current Palestinian conflict may be contributing to changes in the ways war and conflicts are mediatized due to their use of social media to create a more connective citizen journalism where audiences become closer with the distant suffering.

Uppsatsens syfte är att genom en multimodal kritisk diskursanalytisk metod undersöka representationen av personer med funktionsnedsättningar i två olika situationskomedier, från två olika tidsperioder. Dessa är Different Strokes, från mitten på 1980-talet, och Speechless från 2016. Fokus ligger på en karaktär från respektive situationskomedi, Kathy från Different Strokes och JJ från Speechless. Vidare är syftet också att diskutera kring huruvida representationerna kan förstärka olika stereotyper och fördomar i samhället. Urvalet består av fyra (4) avsnitt från respektive serie, det vill säga totalt åtta (8) avsnitt. Personer med funktionsnedsättningar avbildas allt som oftast på ett stereotypt vis, oftast med själva funktionsnedsättningen i fokus. Bilden som förmedlas via medier har idag stor påverkan på mottagaren. Uppsatsen kommer fram till att situationskomedierna avbildar personer med funktionsnedsättningar på ett förhållandevis stereotypt vis, vilket i relativt stor mån kan påverka hur mottagaren uppfattar personer med funktionsnedsättningar. Slutligen kommer uppsatsen också fram till att det är av största vikt att avbilda personer med funktionsnedsättningar på ett respektfullt vis. Detta kan, med stor sannolikhet, leda till att redan existerande stereotyper och fördomar förstärks och därmed också stigmat i samhället. / The purpose of the study is to investigate the representation of people with disabilities in two different sitcoms, from two different time periods. The analysis is made by a multimodal critical discourse analysis method. The sitcoms are Different Strokes, from the mid 1980s, and Speechless from 2016. The focus will be on one character from each sitcom, Kathy from Different Strokes and JJ from Speechless. Furthermore, the purpose is also to discuss whether the representations can reinforce different stereotypes and prejudices in society. The selection consists of four (4) episodes from each series, i.e. a total of eight (8) sections. People with disability are often depicted in a stereotypical way, most of the time with the disability it self in focus. The image that is conveyed via the media has a great influence on the recipients today. The study concludes that both sitcoms depicted people with disabilities in a relatively stereotyped manner, which to a relatively large extent can influence how the recipient perceives people with disabilities. The study also concludes that it is of the utmost importance to depict persons with disabilities in a respectful manner. This may otherwise lead to the strengthening of existing stereotypes and prejudices and thus stigma in society.

The My Stealthy Freedom (MSF) movement on social media has garnered over 1 million likes on Facebook and continues to make headlines in major media outlets. The founder Masih Alinejad routinely speaks out against obligatory veiling in the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI). This study analyses hijab and the MSF movement from a Marxist feminist perspective, evaluating the emancipatory potential for women. The study attempts to untangle Islam from the discourses around the oppression of women to find the material roots of oppression upon which the discourse has been built. The legislation of women’s clothing and women’s bodies has a long history, with just the hijab having been made compulsory and forbidden three times in Iran within the previous century. Through the use of Multimodal Critical Discourse analysis, photographs and videos from the MSF movement are compared to hijab propaganda by the IRI to identify whether the concern of the MSF movement is limited to obligatory hijab, or if it places within the broader movement for women’s emancipation. The results show that despite the visual emphasis on the hijab, the MSF movement has a broader aim emancipating women as expressed by the activists of the movement.