Previous research suggests that working-class culture is underrepresented or stigmatised, particularly in commercial and digital media environments shaped by middle-class values. Using a two-phase research design, this study investigates how working-class lifestyles are represented in Finnish-language Internet discourse through the semantic associations of leisure activities. In the first phase, via nationally representative survey data, I identify leisure activities that are disproportionately characteristic of working-class occupational groups. In the second phase, a word-embedding model trained on a large dataset representing the Finnish-language Internet is used to examine how these activities align with class-related semantic dimensions. The results indicate that working-class leisure activities are positively associated with affluence, cultural cultivation, and moral legitimacy and negatively associated with social status, while only weakly associated with education, workplace position, and gender. These findings suggest that working-class culture remains institutionally marginalised despite connotations of legitimacy and affluence.
Social media platforms became key channels for political leaders’ crisis communication during the Covid-19 pandemic. In this article, I examine how Norwegian party leaders used Facebook and Instagram across three national lockdowns in Norway. A dataset of 2,397 posts from national party leaders was coded using a four-part framework for analysing government communication on social media platforms, capturing information provision, input-seeking, politics, and symbolic presentation. Post-level linear probability models estimate how the probability of each communication type varied by platform and lockdown period, controlling for government or opposition status and Covid-19 relatedness. Facebook accounts for a larger share of posts and carries a broader crisis-communication repertoire, particularly for political and input-seeking communication. The use of Instagram for crisis communication became more selective over time, with several communication types declining during the third lockdown. Contrary to participatory expectations, input-seeking decreased as the crisis persisted. Opposition leaders relied more on information provision across platforms, consistent with visibility and accountability work during prolonged crisis governance.
The rise of opaque algorithmic systems presents new challenges for journalism, particularly regarding transparency. This includes not only openness about journalistic processes but also about how technologies, like front-page personalisation and audience metrics, shape news production and consumption. Yet, news users’ views on these systems remain underexplored. In this study, I investigate how active Finnish news users respond to features of datafied journalism, especially the use of user data. Using a qualitative longitudinal interventionist approach, I engaged 21 participants in quizzes, group interviews, and chat discussions. After 1.5 years, 18 were re-interviewed to reflect on their earlier participation. Inductive analysis revealed varied reactions to the initial information, differing transparency assessments, and changes in engagement with datafied journalism. Three user response profiles emerged: opt-outs, compliants, and vigilants. These profiles offer insight into how understanding datafied journalism influences users’ perceptions and news consumption.
In this article, I analyse the processes through which extremist discourses are mainstreamed via social media influencers, with a particular focus on the Norwegian context. Drawing on insights from feminist scholarship, extremism research, and media and communications theory, I investigate how young male influencers reproduce, adapt, and negotiate ideas and symbols associated with Andrew Tate and the manosphere. The study concentrates on-2023, when Tate's visibility surged internationally and became a prominent topic in Norwegian mainstream media. Through qualitative analysis of ten YouTube and Instagram posts produced by Oscar Westerlin, Norway's most prominent male influencer, both explicit references and more subtle incorporations of manosphere-related ideas are identified. A key argument in the article is that Westerlin acts as an "ironic spectator", a figure who strategically brings extremist content into the mainstream to attract attention in today's digital media landscape. Situated within the Norwegian society where gender equality is highly valued, the article contributes to an understanding of how influencer culture can facilitate the normalisation of extremist ideologies in a specific context.
