'Tänk så mycket hopp du kan ge till människor som känner som du' : En netnografisk text- och bildanalys om kvinnliga gemenskaper på Instagram och YouTube ; 'Think about how much hope you can give to people who feel like you do' : A textual and visual netnographic study about female virtual communities on Instagram and YouTube

This study explores the functions and effects of virtual communities on Instagram and YouTube and discusses the communication process between Swedish female social media influencers and their followers. With a qualitative research design, where I analysed both the textual and visual posts on Instagram and YouTube, I found that the virtual communities can function as a place where people find like-minded people and where they can affirm their own self imagine and experiences, specifically in relation to questions regarding LGBTQIA+ and body positivity. The study operationalises Horton and Wohl’s (1956) concept of Parasocial Relationships which describes the phenomena where people form intimate and close relationships with media people they watch on television. By analysing my material through theoretical frameworks from Goffman (2020; 1979), West and Zimmerman (1987) and Deutsch (2007), I also found that Instagram and YouTube functions as places where norms of femininity and love are constructed, deconstructed, and reproduced. The study concludes that social media (platforms), specifically the virtual communities established and maintained by (social media) influencers, play a vital role in how users understand themselves and other people. Social media can in such a way operate as an institution that helps to both deconstruct and reproduce normative ideals about femininity and sexuality depending on how influencers do gender and portray themselves on their social media profiles.