According to sociologist Anthony Giddens (1999) the late modernity has brought about changes concerning the identity constructing processes of individuals. Bengtsson and Östberg (2011) emphasize that consumption and brands has increased in importance due to the less static character of social class, occupation and education choices. Based on these theoretical assumptions, this thesis examines self presentation on social media, for the purpose of analyzing if brands are being used as resources in the indentity creation. The study investigates the communication associated with the hashtag #oatly1 on Instagram. We approach the matter by conducting a netnographic study followed by qualitative interwievs in order to gain a deeper understanding of the subject. The theoretical outsets of this thesis are based on Giddens (1999), Bengtsson & Östberg (2011) and Belk (1988) in order to explain the role of brands in the identity creating processes. The examination of Instagram is based on Hogan (2010) to gain understanding of the social interaction online. The study displays that individuals mainly use the hashtag #oatly in purpose of spreading their lifestyle and gain publicity to the own identity. It also shows that the brand is used as an extension of the self. Furthermore the results demonstrate that there are collective aspects of hashtaging the brand, which differ from previous research. Conclusions to be drawn are that theories concerning the identity creating in the late modernity and brands as resources in these processes have validity in an online context.

Denna uppsats kommer att undersö̈ka hur designen och anvä̈ndandet av mobildejtingtjä̈nsten Tinder har påverkat beteenden och normer gä̈llande nä̈tdejting bland unga vuxna i Sverige. Ett huvudsyfte är att undersöka hur olika interaktionsmekanismer i Tinder påverkar synen på nätdejting och potentiella partners. Vidare undersöker vi faktorer som skiljer Tinder från övriga nätdejtingtjänster, samt vilka normer som synliggörs genom användandet av Tinder. Genom en nätbaserad enkätundersökning kunde vi samla användarupplevelser och åsikter från användare av Tinder. Baserat på materialet från enkätundersökningen utförde vi tre fokusgrupper vars syfte var att fördjupa perspektiv unga vuxna hade gällande nätdejting och Tinder. Resultatet presenteras genom att analysera data från informanterna kombinerat med teorier om användarupplevelse (User Experience), affordanser, designkvalitéer, självrepresentation, spelifiering och marknadsmetaforer. Vi kunde se åtskilliga mekanismer associerade med spelifiering i Tinder gällande design och användarbeteende. Generellt verkar också Tinderanvändare reproducera rådande könsnormer i en annars neutral och minimalistisk design. Vidare fanns marknadsmetaforer gällande nätdejting i Tinder. Tinder tycks även ha tilltalat en ny målgrupp inom nätdejting, således ansedd avslappnad och jämbördig annan social media. Kopplingen till Facebook bidrar också till en ökad tillit för självrepresantationen bland Tinderanvändare. Slutligen ser vi att den svepcentrerade “ja-eller-nej-funktionaliteten” i Tinder verkar ha skapat en standard som kommer att påverka framtida dejtingtjänster och användarupplevelser. / This report aims to examine how the design and usage of the mobile dating application Tinder has affected behaviors and norms regarding online dating amongst young adults in Sweden. One main purpose is to examine how different interaction mechanisms in Tinder affects the view of online dating and potential partners. Additionally factors that differentiate Tinder from other online dating services will be examined. Furthermore social norms that are made visible through the usage of Tinder will be addressed. By creating an online survey it was possible to retrieve user experiences of Tinder usage and opinions about Tinder and online dating. Based on material from the survey three focus group interviews were conducted, which gathered different perspectives young adults had regarding online dating and Tinder. The conclusion will be presented by analyzing the data from the informants combined with theories such as User Experience, affordances, design qualities, self representation, gamification and market metaphors. Several mechanism associated with gamification were found in Tinder regarding design and user behavior. The Tinder users in general also seem to reproduce current gender norms in an otherwise neutral and minimalistic design. Furthermore market metaphors were found regarding online dating in Tinder. Additionally Tinder seems to target a new group of users in online dating, accordingly considered as ”laid-back” and equal to other social media. The connection to Facebook also contributes to an increased trust towards the self representation of Tinder users. Finally the swipe centered “yes-or-no-functionality” of Tinder seems to create a standard that will affect future dating services and User Experience.