Becoming a Parent in a Digitized Age: Facebook as an Agent of Change in the Transition to Parenthood

• In Event: Children, Adolescents, and Media: Research Escalator 2

Abstract

This paper employs a mediatization perspective and addresses the role of digital media in the transition to parenthood based on a comparative case study of the role of digital media in the lives of Danish first-time parents. The paper argues that Facebook acts as an agent of change in the transition to parenthood since Facebook is involved in shaping expectations, practices, and rituals. Findings show how these processes are enhanced and reflected through the acts of posting photos related to family life. The paper contributes an identification of three ideal-typical strategies of new parents’ Facebook activities and photo-postings: Performative, dialogical and preservative. Lastly, the paper discusses how these findings inform family sociology, internet research and mediatization studies.

Author

• Maja Sonne Damkjaer, Aarhus U