Från nyheter till narrativ : en tematisk textanalys av hur nyheter politiseras genom alternativa verklighetsbeskrivningar i två Flashbacktrådar
(2025) JOUK10 20242Journalism
- Abstract
- This paper explores how the anonymous chatboard Flashback Forum forms narratives out of ongoing criminal cases. Additionally, the paper delves further into how social media and the use of political narratives creates an alternative version of reality and the wider post-truth phenomenon. With the help of a thematic text analysis, the paper studies two threads from the forum, the Tommie Lindh case and the Adriana case. The thematic composition of the threads is that of criminality. This is due to the nature of Flashback Forum and the wider Swedish context in which it exists. The forum's popularity stems from its reputation for an unfiltered discussion of a wider range of topics where the criminal threads stand out as the most popular. Due to... (More)
- This paper explores how the anonymous chatboard Flashback Forum forms narratives out of ongoing criminal cases. Additionally, the paper delves further into how social media and the use of political narratives creates an alternative version of reality and the wider post-truth phenomenon. With the help of a thematic text analysis, the paper studies two threads from the forum, the Tommie Lindh case and the Adriana case. The thematic composition of the threads is that of criminality. This is due to the nature of Flashback Forum and the wider Swedish context in which it exists. The forum's popularity stems from its reputation for an unfiltered discussion of a wider range of topics where the criminal threads stand out as the most popular. Due to the information sharing nature of the forum, information about criminal cases often gets released before the national papers. At the same time, the nature of the forum has led to a wide range of controversies and that the forum is seen as a breeding ground for misinformation. This study employs the framework from Berger and Luckmann’s theory presented in The Social Construction of Reality: A Treatise in the Sociology of Knowledge and adapts their theory by coding quotes from the threads. Then the study categorizes the codes and quotes into three overarching themes: construction of reality, criticism of society, and group identification. The theory helps us gain an understanding of the function of the collective nature of alternative realities and the wider post truth understanding of the world. The study findings show how the forum participants construct and amplify alternative realities by merging subjective interpretations with ideologically driven narratives. The paper also highlights the dynamics of post-truth, where repetition, distrust of established institutions and emotional arguments overshadow objective facts. These mechanisms emerge as essential to understanding how truth is redefined and how alternative realities take root in today’s digital media landscape. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
http://lup.lub.lu.se/student-papers/record/9180846
- author
- Lindborg, Robbie LU and Öberg, Johnny LU
- supervisor
- organization
- course
- JOUK10 20242
- year
- 2025
- type
- M2 - Bachelor Degree
- subject
- keywords
- Sociala medier, Flashback, Journalistik, Samhälle, Brott, Nyhetsmedier, Post Truth, Post-sanning, Konstruktivism, Tematisk textanalys
- language
- Swedish
- id
- 9180846
- date added to LUP
- 2025-03-05 12:24:53
- date last changed
- 2025-03-05 12:24:53
@misc{9180846,
abstract = {{This paper explores how the anonymous chatboard Flashback Forum forms narratives out of ongoing criminal cases. Additionally, the paper delves further into how social media and the use of political narratives creates an alternative version of reality and the wider post-truth phenomenon. With the help of a thematic text analysis, the paper studies two threads from the forum, the Tommie Lindh case and the Adriana case. The thematic composition of the threads is that of criminality. This is due to the nature of Flashback Forum and the wider Swedish context in which it exists. The forum's popularity stems from its reputation for an unfiltered discussion of a wider range of topics where the criminal threads stand out as the most popular. Due to the information sharing nature of the forum, information about criminal cases often gets released before the national papers. At the same time, the nature of the forum has led to a wide range of controversies and that the forum is seen as a breeding ground for misinformation. This study employs the framework from Berger and Luckmann’s theory presented in The Social Construction of Reality: A Treatise in the Sociology of Knowledge and adapts their theory by coding quotes from the threads. Then the study categorizes the codes and quotes into three overarching themes: construction of reality, criticism of society, and group identification. The theory helps us gain an understanding of the function of the collective nature of alternative realities and the wider post truth understanding of the world. The study findings show how the forum participants construct and amplify alternative realities by merging subjective interpretations with ideologically driven narratives. The paper also highlights the dynamics of post-truth, where repetition, distrust of established institutions and emotional arguments overshadow objective facts. These mechanisms emerge as essential to understanding how truth is redefined and how alternative realities take root in today’s digital media landscape.}},
author = {{Lindborg, Robbie and Öberg, Johnny}},
language = {{swe}},
note = {{Student Paper}},
title = {{Från nyheter till narrativ : en tematisk textanalys av hur nyheter politiseras genom alternativa verklighetsbeskrivningar i två Flashbacktrådar}},
year = {{2025}},
}