TEXTO UNIFICADO DE LEGISLACIÓN AMBIENTAL SECUNDARIA,

It is useful to first review some of the key western literature on romantic relationships online in order to build an interpretive framework for the research, before moving on to review in some detail Costa’s account of romantic relationships in the conservative community of Mardin. The use of social media networks for initiating and cultivating romantic relationships is very common in western communities despite the frequent opportunities for a person to initiate a romantic relationship offline/organically (Gershon 2010; Pascoe 2010; Lenhart and Madden 2007; boyd, 2010). Digital interaction plays an important role, specifically amongst young adults and adolescents, in initiating casual relationships and in progressing to a more serious/exclusive

attachment. Christo Sims (2007) found that especially amongst young adults flirting through social media with a possible love interest was less intimidating than face-to-face flirtation. Through what he calls ‘controlled casualness’, teenagers and young adults are able to manage the flirting process more effectively while avoiding the usual vulnerabilities that come with it.

The role of social media does not stop at commencing a romantic relationship. The multiple sites of social networks are then used to cultivate and manage the relationship, moving it between platforms in accordance with the stage it is at (Pascoe, 2010) and adding more media channels to the communication in a calculable configuration of ‘media multiplexity’ (Haythornthwaite, 2005). Baym (2013) points out that as the ties we make online strengthen, more forms of communications are added, such as video call or instant messaging in order to expose us to more social cues. In her book Social Media and Personal Relationships (2013), Deborah Chambers documents the way in which digital media is being used by young adults to initiate and manage romantic relationships in a very intricate and calculated manner. She notes how instant messages and written textual communication in general is found to be very appropriate in the early stages of the relationship as it entails the right amount of informality (Gershon, 2010) as well as offering more control over the communication. Similarly, comments and likes on a love interest’s pictures or posts are also a way of treading carefully in the early stages of flirting in order to save face in the event that the feelings are not reciprocated. Once feelings prove to be mutual, then more platforms are incorporated into the digital interaction and the budding partners move on to video calls, phone calls and personal meetings. In addition, social media is used to announce and display the relationship to friends by sharing the couple’s photographs publicly and changing the relationship status on one’s profile, otherwise known as being ‘Facebook official’ (Papp et al, 2012). Moreover, social media is impacting users’ behaviour within intimate relationships due to the notion of continuous availability. Partners are communicating flexibly and frequently through the various platforms offered (Baron 2008; Gershon 2010, Pascoe 2010), thereby intensifying the relationship and raising expectations about their partner’s availability despite geographical distance or, in the case of adolescents, parental control. Regular check ins and several instant media messages and texts per day become expected from each partner and their lack could trigger jealousy, anxiety and even digital surveillance (Marshall et al, 2012; Muise et all, 2009).

Social media networks are also used to mediate and manage breakups, sometimes in quite a public manner (boyd 2010a, 2010b). Gershon (2010) found that many consider breaking up over a social media platform to be very inappropriate, yet the practice still occurs. Depending on

each person’s media ideology (their own media values), some find it acceptable to end a relationship or announce a breakup on social media networks while some find it cruel and distasteful (Gershon, 2010). Gershon also found that there was no shared consensus about the role social media plays in announcing the breakup to friends and family, or on how it is used to cope with the breakup itself as ex-partners still occupy the same virtual spaces and still appear on each other’s feed. Following a breakup, monitoring and stalking an ex-love interest or an ex- partner is an issue that is being raised by the heavy use of social media networks and their intersected nature (Muise et al, 2009; Pascoe, 2010). On many occasions, it is hard to overlook the updates on newsfeeds and the tags in a friend’s photographs and check-ins that involve an ex- partner. Thus, stalking and surveillance is made easier and less risky. Snippets of information that are gathered via photograph tags and check-ins and status updates can paint a picture of how that person has spent his/her weekend and with whom. This has created a pattern of communicating passively with partners or ex-partners which the person knows are watching, either by manipulating the relationship status on Facebook to single, or through using social steganography by posting certain songs or specific quotes that are meant to communicate a certain message passively without having to actually talk to the (ex-)partner.

The incorporeal nature of online romance does not diminish the role of the physical body in online intimacies (Chambers, 2013). Photographic and video-sharing tools are now key features in social media platforms, with some, such as Snapchat and Instagram, being solely devoted to video- and photo-sharing. Through the utilisation of these features, the body plays a dynamic and central role in online romantic relationships as both an object of desire and a potential reward once the relationship evolves. Physical expressions of intimacy can be communicated on social media and dating sites through various intricate textual and visual cues (Weisskirch, & Delevi, 2011; Livingstone and Gorzig, 2015; Lee et al, 2015). The occurrence of romance and intimacy online is quite fitting with Giddens (1992) concept of ‘plastic sexuality’, which challenges traditional/conventional romantic/sexual relationships. Giddens argues that plastic sexuality is an aspect of his notion of a ‘pure relationship’ in which personal autonomy and choice are equally emphasised for women and men. This is respectively shifting gender power in western societies towards female sexual equality. The huge range of choices on offer to both men and women on dating sites and through social media platforms is arguably granting women sexual freedom and associating it with self-realisation in the same way that Giddens argues through the notion of a ‘pure relationship’. In addition, the autonomy that is emphasised through plastic sexuality is argued by Giddens to be facilitating and generating a wide range of

sexual activity that is not necessarily conventional and which could help us to understand the virtual and digital intimacy/sexuality that is viewed on these sites.

Now that some of the key debates about online/digital romance and intimacy in the western world have been reviewed, the next section will turn back to Costa’s review of online romance in a culture that is more comparable to Saudi culture.