The impact of social media user profiles on romantic relationships and privacy

Social media, which emerged with internet technology, continues to be used as the most popular tool in the history of communication, and offers new surprises to its users every day. With the help of technical developments in the last two decades, social media has gained a very rapid growth momentum. Today, the phenomenon called new media-social media has almost started to consist of social networking sites (Budak,2018). Social media has been defined as a structure consisting of various technological activities in the context of social interaction and content creation (Sternberg, 2014, cited in: Gizir, 2013). In this structure, the individual can introduce himself to others as he is or with an identity he wants to be, and interact with them. Durmuş and his colleagues say that in their definition, social networking sites have replaced virtual communities: “As an advanced form of virtual communities, social networking sites; They are web-based groups that have common interests, goals and objectives that enable to develop personal and professional relationships outside of geographical or institutional boundaries” (Durmuş et al. 2010). Social media; With the use of video, blog, picture and social networks as communication and sharing tools, it takes its place in people’s lives as an interactive communication platform (İrge, 2012: 77). It gives the individual the opportunity to share the text and photos that he has determined by himself with people from different places, languages ​​and cultures with the help of a button (Acar et al. 2015: 63, cited by Avcı, 2016). The communication process has moved to another dimension with the widespread use of mobile phones and computers. While communication via social communication networks (for example, facebook, instagram, myspace, frendster, twitter) emerges as a different type of communication, it also adds new applications to traditional communication types (face-to-face communication, written communication). Through social networks, existing relationships can be maintained and new relationships can be established at the same time. Especially when it comes to close relationships, it is seen that social communication networks affect relationship dynamics in many positive and negative ways (Doğan and Karakuş, 2016).

Close relationships, which are defined as an emotional commitment established on the basis of mutual understanding and communication with the loved one, are among the most important psycho-social development tasks of individuals aged 19-26 in emerging adulthood (Arnett, 2000; Eryılmaz & Ercan, 2010, cited in: Gizir, 2013). Romantic relationships, which are considered within the scope of close relationships, are defined as a relationship consisting of a combination of passion, commitment and intimacy that develops between men and women (Sternberg, 1986, cited in: Gizir, 2013). These relationships not only affect self-esteem for young people due to the need to find oneself valuable and be liked, but also contribute to development in many ways such as establishing a special communication with a special person, meeting at joint events, maintaining a special relationship, reducing the feeling of loneliness, and enjoying time, and on the way to maturity. provides support to individuals (Bugay & Çok, 2015). Romantic relationships established during the university years, which include the emerging adulthood period, are of great importance in terms of affecting the social, sexual and personality development of young people and their peer relationships, as well as determining the quality of close relationships to be established in adulthood and the choice of spouses in the marriage process (Furman, 2002, cited in: Gizir). , 2013). When the relevant literature is examined, it is stated that romantic relationships constitute an important part of the lives of university students and that 65% of university students have experienced at least one romantic relationship during their university life (Collins, 2003, cited in: Gizir, 2013).

Electronic social networks cause various transformations in the way of living both our social relations and our “private” relations, which we see as more special for us among these relations, and the emergence of new practices for internet users (Şener, 2013). What is privacy? The current equivalent of the word “privacy” in the Dictionary of the Turkish Language Institution is “the state of being confidential” (www.tdk.gov.tr). The phenomenon of privacy or private space forms an important part of people’s social lives today. Considering the role of established moral values, religion, individual differences and time factor in the determination of the privacy area, it becomes difficult to define the concept of privacy (Budak, 2018). “Privacy is a reciprocal space between an individual’s desire to be alone and to be with others.” (Yüksel, 2003, p. 78). As such, privacy is a right that both liberates and protects against others.

It is possible to list the transformations created by the spread of social media and the complementarity of online and offline life on the intimate relationships of the interviewees: Romantic relationships become public in social networks, social media turns into an alternative space of love, sometimes its complement; users develop new attachment or escape strategies; they can express their feelings and thoughts on social networks without being stuck with the limits of the body; they can consume love and relationships faster on social networks; as social networks open up men and women to new social circles, they also increase their relationship options; leads to underground relations; on the other hand, couples perform a love performance in front of the others by opening joint accounts, having a profile photo taken together, and stating their relationship status; but mostly they use social networks to spy on and control each other in their relationships; While sharing their social network passwords with each other, they are often unaware that they are perpetrating or being exposed to digital violence. The different uses of electronic social networks require the transformation and redefinition of concepts such as privacy, love, romantic relationships and sexuality, which are considered within the boundaries of the private sphere in modern societies (Şener, 2013).

Problem Statement

What are the effects of Kırıkkale University students’ social media user profiles on their romantic relationships and privacy?

Sub Problems:

1. Are there any gender differences in privacy in social media?

2. What is the effect of social media on privacy on romantic relationships?

3. What are the strategies that students apply to each other through social media in their romantic relationships?

4. What is the students’ perception of privacy in their romantic relationships?

METHOD

A case study was conducted in this study within the framework of the stated purposes. Situations can take various forms. An individual, an institution, a group, an environment can set an example for the environments to be studied. Case studies can be done with quantitative or qualitative approaches. In both approaches, the aim is to reveal results related to a specific situation. The case study is a widely used approach in qualitative research. In accordance with the purpose of the research, semi-structured interview technique was used. While determining the sample group to which the interview technique will be applied, individuals who actively use social media and have romantic relationships were selected in line with the aforementioned study.

Universe and Sample

The universe of the research consists of university students. The sample of the study consists of students who are determined by the quota sampling method among the students who have social media accounts. In the non-probability sample, “the researcher does not attempt to generalize the findings” (Erdoğan 2012: 208, cited by Taşdelen & Çataldaş, 2017). Therefore, the findings obtained are valid only for the participant group. The population of the research consists of students studying at Kırıkkale University. The sample of the research consists of 30 students studying at Kırıkkale University in the fall semester of the 2018-2019 academic year, determined by the quota sampling method.

Data Collection Tools

The data obtained in the research are the data obtained by applying the semi-structured interview technique. In the interview consisting of 10 questions, it was applied to a sample group of 30 students who were studying at Kırıkkale University and were selected with a quota.

Analysis of Data

Content Analysis is a scientific approach that allows for the objective and systematic examination of verbal, written and other materials (Cited by Gülbahar and Alper, 2019). Through content analysis, it is aimed to identify the data and reveal the truths hidden in the data. Four stages are used in the processing of qualitative research data obtained from content analysis documents: (1) Coding the data, (2) Finding the themes, (3) Arranging the codes and themes, and (4) Defining and interpreting the findings (Şimşek & Yıldırım, 2006). In this context, in this study, in the first stage, coding was made according to the previously determined concepts and themes were obtained in this context. Afterwards, the data were organized, grouped according to themes and presented by digitizing when appropriate. Finally, the findings were interpreted.

RESULTS

Use of Social Networks

Table 1-Social Networks

Table 2- Reasons for Using Social Networks

According to the data we obtained from 30 people, it was concluded that Whatsapp is used as a communication tool today. In addition, it was stated that Whatsapp is a necessity. “Now, life works on these (P7)”. It has been concluded that Instagram is used for socializing and spending time. Some participants expressed these aims as follows: “…Many people use it. I use it to see what my friends are doing, to share photos and stories, in short, to socialize. (K10)” ; “To hang out in my spare time (K6)”. It was concluded that they used Twitter and Whatsapp to get news from the agenda.

His Views on Relationships on Social Media

Applied in Table-3 Relationship

The results of the analysis that the participants applied to their relationships on social media highlight four sub-themes. These are gift suggestions, special day surprises, sharing photos together and getting ideas. A participant about the gift offer uses the following expression: “I look before I buy a gift and I am impressed… (P10)”. The following was stated about the special day surprise: “I use social media to get an idea about how to propose a future marriage. (E3)”. “I look at the romantic surprises in other relationships and sometimes I apply the things I like to my relationship (P8)”. By sharing photos together, the participants expressed the following: “On special days, my partner wants me to share a photo, he always expects me to add a nice and meaningful word to it. (E10)”.“ I share photos with my girlfriend so that I can get along well, otherwise we can fight (E8)”. It was observed that the participants were influenced by different areas regarding getting ideas from social media. “I am looking at places to visit and accommodation with my lover. We make travel plans by being influenced by them (P7)”. I care. (E3)”

Table-4 Criticisms of the Relationship

Participants criticize the relationships in social media for showing off, making a premium, comparing, damaging the relationship, violating private life, emulating, and there are also impartial ministers. Some of the participants expressed showing off as follows: “They stated that people only receive gifts for showing off their relationships to social media and leave comments (P1)”. “They only have a relationship on social media as if they are very happy and constantly surprise, whereas they do not have such a relationship, it is purely showing off (M5)”. Some participants think that social media harms relationships and they express it as follows: “I think social media affects relationships negatively. The number of photos on social media can cause problems, and there can be jealousy when following someone (M12)”. One of the participants, who thought that he violated his privacy, explained as follows: “Actually, there is no such thing as a privacy limit, because he knows my password, my love. As a limit, we are aware of each other’s friend list and stuff. We are reading each other’s messages, when it falls on the notification panel, I check the other party’s reading. I also skimmed through old posts. There were some things I asked their friends to remove, I have deleted them mutually (P2)”.

Private Life Limits

Table-5 Private Life Limits

The private life limits of the participants are distributed under four themes. The password sharing of some participants is expressed as follows: ‘Password sharing occurs because it is a joint account. He goes in and takes pictures, and I do. Other than that, it’s nothing like insecurity. At first, there is insecurity, like give your password and I’ll see, but after a certain time, there is no problem whether you give it or not (E3)’. ‘The joint account already knows our phone passwords. It’s not about insecurity. If something happens, I will go and he has to know (K12)’. ‘I didn’t ask for the password, the lady said she would give it, we expect her friends to get used to this situation (E1)’. ‘Actually, there is no such thing as a privacy limit, because he knows my password, darling…(K2)’. ‘There is not much of a border between us, we know our passwords. Our relationship in the framework of continuous control (E10)’.

Some participants used the following statements about reading the messages: ‘I look at their messages, why not? (K4)’. ‘I am reading your messages. To intervene when disturbed (E1)’. ‘ If my partner receives a message, I read it rather than a boy, and if it is a girl, everyone has something special, I don’t read it, but I answer it rather than a man (E11). ‘ He reads the messages one by one on Whatsapp and asks the girls who is this (E8)’.

Friendship-following requests of some participants and against limiting their opposite-sex friends are expressed as follows: ‘I can remove my friends by my decision (E4)’. ‘I used to delete friend requests at first without asking him, but then I stopped doing it (E5)’. ‘ I limit my partner, he cannot follow everyone. If I block someone I don’t like, I say they will delete it immediately, and he will delete it (E8)’. He only has his own friends on his social media. It’s okay for her to post a picture as her friends see her in her daily life too. He doesn’t listen even though I limit him anyway, so there were times when we fought loudly (P10)’. ‘I don’t mess with his friends at work, but why would he need a girlfriend after meeting him in his daily life? (K8)’.

Use of Joint Accounts on Social Media

Table-6 Reason for Using Joint Account

The reasons for the participants to use a joint account were divided into sub-themes such as not having a social media account, requesting the partner and sharing happiness. Some participants expressed these reasons as follows: “My girlfriend closed her account because she doesn’t like her social media accounts very much, so we made my account partner, that is, an offer from her (P12)”. “They can only see the places we visited, fight about our relationship, special moments, happy moments, joyful moments, they can only see where we are going (E3)”. “I want our environment to see that we are happy together (M7)”. “We use a joint account. Opened at the request of my girlfriend. We usually share photos when we are together…(E12)”.

Table-7 Reason for Not Using Joint Account

The reasons why the participants did not use a joint account are distributed under the following sub-themes. These are violations of privacy, unnecessary, funny and obsolete. The statements of some participants regarding the violation of private life are as follows: “No one is connected to each other, everyone is a separate individual, so I think that everyone should have a separate life (P5)”. “We don’t like the joint account. It connects people to the other side. It doesn’t stay private. The other side also sees what you are going through, there are no hidden sides (E13)”. Some of the participants’ statements about when they find the joint account unnecessary are as follows: “I find double accounts ridiculous. As a result, it opens for the individual… (E9)”. “I criticize the joint account, mutual friends are added, photos are shared, it’s ridiculous, so everyone has a separate account (E4)”.

What Your Partner Considers In Their Profile

Table-8 What the Partner Considers in His Profile

It highlights eight sub-themes according to the results of the analysis that the participants paid attention to in the profile of their partners. These are friend/followers list, likes, comments, saves, friend/follow requests, searched, online statuses, and home/discover. However, there is no clear view about the reasons. Some of the participants’ statements on this subject are as follows: “I mean, when you take a photo, I enter. What I noticed is that sometimes he changes his profile picture because of the pressure of relatives. There are things like why did you change it, but other than that, frankly, there are things that I pay attention to because I edit his profile sometimes. After a certain time, the other person also respects your wishes. She can follow men she knows and other than that, I don’t do much about people she doesn’t know (E3)”. “I pay attention to everything (E5)”. “I check the type of boyfriends to see if they are dangerous (E2)”.

DISCUSSION, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS

The aim of this study is to determine the limits of private life in romantic relationships of Kırıkkale University students, social media user profiles; password sharing, reading messages, friend-following requests and limiting opposite-sex friends. According to the results of the analysis, there is no significant difference in the boundaries of private life according to gender.

It is possible to list the changes of social media on the intimate relationships of the participants: Their love and relationships can be damaged on social networks, they display their relationships for the purposes of making a premium, earning money and showing off, couples open joint accounts and show their happiness in front of others by stating their relationship status; but mostly they use social networks to spy on and control each other in their relationships; With the changes of social media on their romantic relationships, participants develop new strategies for regulating their romantic relationships. Strategies that individuals follow while managing their relationships in social networks can be listed as follows: establishing a common social media rules in their relationships, how often they communicate with each other, not interfering with their partner’s posts (warning, obtaining their passwords with or without consent, discussion on shares, emotional pressure, account forcing the closure, etc.), exposing the relationship on social networks (sharing photos with the partner, posting for each other, cursing, liking, etc.), monitoring the social media behavior of the partner on a daily basis. These strategies will vary according to how the partners perceive the relationship and what they expect from each other.

In romantic relationships, individuals consider it normal to share passwords, read messages, interfere with friend-following requests, and limit their opposite-sex friends. It turned out that while sharing social network passwords with each other, they did not realize that they were breaking the boundaries of privacy. Violation of privacy does not disturb individuals.

However, conducting future studies on the subject with different and larger sample groups in order to increase the generalizability of the results may allow for the comprehensive determination of the aspects of social media that affect romantic relationships and privacy, and to observe whether these effects differ between various groups.

In this study, a case study was conducted with a limited number of variables (gender, whether or not to have a romantic relationship, whether to use a social media account) from the perspective of the privacy in romantic relationships of social media user profiles of university students. In future studies, the perception of privacy in romantic relationships can be considered together with different variables (education level, etc.) within the scope of the literature.

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