Tell us about your project!

The research project is about belonging. How is the sense of belonging and non-belonging of 12-years-olds in Oslo, from families with different incomes, with and without migrant background and with different gender, on social media such as TikTok and Snapchat, created through practices, places and social interaction? The project will analyse 12-year-olds from mixes-income as well as high-income families to create a comparison. The comparative approach will also analyze migration backgrounds and comprise gender as an analytical category. Research questions: What practices, (digital) spaces, and people do 12-years olds share and how do they influence belonging or non-belonging on social media? How does belonging to or via digital media influence belonging in physical arenas? What are the inclusion and exclusion practices among peers on social media platforms and how do they impact the (non-)belonging to social groups?

“Belonging relates to physical places one is emplaced using social media as well as digital space and social arenas. The entanglement of these places and spaces is interwined with identity and empirically compelling.”

— Clara Julia Reich on her PhD project, a part of the BELONG project (2021-2025), finances by the Research Council of Norway