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Abstract

The purpose of this research is to expand upon the current literature and research on how nostalgia is expressed through representations of digital culture with a focus on the sociology and function of digital communities present on the app TikTok. Using qualitative primary research acquired through Robert Kozinets’ method of a Netnography, this dissertation aims to extend theory from laid academic literature to relevant findings. The data used in the primary research is acquired from the ever-growing social media app known as TikTok which accumulates content from its users on a vast range of topics as will be observed in this study’s evidence rich chapter two. The app gathers substantial collections of subcommunities within its digital environment with the proclivity for these communities comes a shared intimacy between users otherwise understood to be strangers. Findings displayed strong representations of nostalgia, digital communities, and female representation which validates and extends the applied literature. This study exhibited a growing prevalence for nostalgia use in online communities particularly present in female subcommunities, which in further study would greatly build academic work on both digital and feminist literature. Furthermore, what is present in this dissertation is the ever-expanding nature of the digital world and its inherent intervening with society and its function in the presentation of human emotion and empathy.

Course: Media Studies - BA (Hons) - C1346

Date Deposited: 2024-08-08

URI/permalink: https://library.port.ac.uk/dissert/dis14435.html