Marital communication and social media use on the basis of family phenomenon in the information age

This study aims to reveal the relation between marital communication and social media in the context of changes in marital communication. In line with this purpose, the shares of married individuals about their private lives on social media, the communication they establish with their spouses through social media applications, the reflections of social media on marital communication and how married individuals perceive social media were investigated. Phenomenological qualitative research method was chosen as the method of the study. The data collection procedure is in two stages. In the first stage, 30 semi-structured interviews were conducted. A semi-structured interview form consisting of open-ended questions was used as a data collection tool. The sample of the semi-structured interviews consisted of 30 participants, 15 women and 15 men, who were selected using purposive sampling and snowball sampling methods. The participants were determined on the basis of being married and social media users. In the second stage, 2 focus group interviews were conducted. The focus group interview form prepared according to the results obtained in the first stage was used as a data collection tool. The participants who were interviewed in the focus group consisted of 2 groups selected by purposive sampling method. In the first group, there are 6 participants selected among the participants who were interviewed through semi-structured interviews, and in the second group, there are 6 participants selected from the pre-interview pool. In the analysis of the data collected in the first phase, deductive qualitative content analysis procedure was applied in MAXQDA Qualitative Analysis Programme. As a result of the analysis, 1627 codes were made in the interview forms and 5 themes, 18 categories and subcategories were formed as the nature of communication between spouses, private life in social media, social media communication, social media use and marital communication and social media perception. In the analysis of the data collected in the second stage, qualitative content analysis procedure was applied. As a result of the analysis, the results obtained in the first stage were deepened. The results show that sharing private life on social media is normalised, the participants develop a communication language with their spouses through social media applications, and social media is integrated into marital communication. However, it was concluded that (1) demographic factors, (2) relationship dynamics, (3) individual preferences, (4) individuals' perception of social media and social media usage patterns, (5) individuals' level of awareness, and (6) cultural codes affect social media communication in marriage and the relation between marital communication and social media. On the other hand, gender roles and the transformation of identities through marriage are crucial in this context. The results show that social media has positive or negative effects on marital communication, but it is not fundamentally decisive.