An exploration of the loveLife generation on the mobile network MYMsta. By Natasha Sundar In fulfilment of the requirements of the Master of Arts Degree in the Graduate Programme in Culture, Communication and Media Studies. Supervisor: Prof Keyan G. Tomaselli 2011 Ethical Approval Number: HSS/0110/10M Declaration Submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts, in the Graduate Programme in Culture, Communication and Media Studies, University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. I declare that this dissertation is my own unaided work. All citations, references and borrowed ideas have been duly acknowledged. I confirm that an external editor was used and that my Supervisor was informed of the identity and details of my editor. It is being submitted for the degree of Master of Arts in the Faculty of Humanities, Development and Social Science, University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. None of the present work has been submitted previously for any degree or examination in any other University. _______________________________ Student name ______________________________ Date ii Acknowledgements I would like to thank my supervisor Prof Keyan Tomaselli for his encouragement and support through the process of this degree. I would also like to thank Johns Hopkins Health South Africa (JHHESA) for the funding that enabled this research. Thank you to Prof Ruth Teer-Tomaselli for her valuable advice. Thank you to the MYMsta users for the information which they generously supplied, and Esther Eskin and Duncan Hartling of the loveLife, who answered numerous questions and assisted me with vital information. Thank you to Dr Marc Caldwell for his helpfulness in introducing me to NVivo, critical advice and his help to me in finding readings; this research would not have been the same without you. Thank you to staff, colleagues and fellow students for your scholarly collegiality, support, encouragement, and reading of various drafts – John Kunda, Abe Mulwo, Lauren Dyll, Eliza Govender, Mike Maxwell, Pusetso Tsesto, Prof Lynn Dalrymple, George King’ara and Varona Sathiya. Thank you to Jonathan Dockney, for friendship, support, an endless supply of interesting conversation, and an understanding ear. To my fellow CCMSers, Kate Finlay, Alex Vailati, Sjoerd van Grootheest, Caitlin Watson and Shanade Barnabas, thank you. Thank you to my family for their undying support and patience in the completion of this degree. To my gran for home, and home-cooked meals. To my mom for her immense support and generosity in allowing me the chance to pursue this degree. And to my dad for instilling in me a thirst for knowledge and encouraging me to pursue further studies. Thank you to Margaret Lenta for your generous assistance in editing this document. Thank you to Jeanne Prinsloo, for your help in planning this document. Thank you also to Emma Durden for your hard work and excellent comments on the final draft of this document. iii Abstract In June 2008 loveLife launched a mobile social networking site called MYMsta. By June 2009 there were 33 758 members, most of whom were between the ages of 18 and 25. These members had created discussions on HIV, sexuality and relationships on the site's discussion forums. It is likely that the only people on these discussion forums are young people with more questions than answers, though the anonymity of participants makes it impossible to be certain of this. This stimulated my interest into the extraordinary opportunity created by these open discussions on intimate issues. For this study, ten of the most popular discussions on relationships were selected as a sample for investigation. The data consisted largely of unmediated discussions among South African youth on contentious issues such as sex, love, relationships, sexuality and HIV. Varied methods were employed in order to grasp its manifest and latent content. Coding was carried out using the NVivo 8 software programme. A form of thematic analysis articulated by Braun and Clarke (2006) was implemented to categorise the themes that emerged from coding. Lastly, semiotics was applied to provide a more qualitative and detailed discussion of the particular and nuanced responses to pertinent questions surrounding sexuality and HIV vulnerability. The discussions revealed varied representations of young people partaking in risky sexual behaviour. It also revealed AIDS denialism, and significant fear of stigma attached to HIV testing. Ultimately, the discussion forums form a space for young people to talk about these issues, and provide insights into issues that can be communicated more effectively with them. iv Table of Contents Declaration.......................................................................................................................... ii Acknowledgements............................................................................................................iii Abstract.............................................................................................................................. iv Table of Contents................................................................................................................ v List of Figures................................................................................................................... vii List of Tables ...................................................................................................................viii List of abbreviations .......................................................................................................... ix Chapter One: Introduction .................................................................................................. 1 The South African Context and HIV .............................................................................. 2 Research aims ................................................................................................................. 6 Value of the research ...................................................................................................... 7 Summary of chapters ...................................................................................................... 7 Chapter Two: Theory, Gender, Identity and Participation ................................................. 9 Identity ............................................................................................................................ 9 The social construction of gender ................................................................................. 15 Youth as a social construct ........................................................................................... 19 Participatory communication........................................................................................ 20 Conclusion .................................................................................................................... 26 Chapter Three: loveLife context ....................................................................................... 28 loveLife – the organisation and disorganisation ........................................................... 28 MYMsta – objectives, strategy, and rationale .............................................................. 32 Chapter Four: Communication, Community and Mobility............................................... 36 Social Network Sites (SNS).......................................................................................... 36 Discussion forums......................................................................................................... 40 Virtual Community or network?................................................................................... 43 I type therefore I am: identity in the internet Age ........................................................ 45 Youth and Mobile Media.............................................................................................. 46 Chapter Five: HIV communication and mobile media ..................................................... 48 Youth ............................................................................................................................ 48 Media, sex and HIV ...................................................................................................... 48 Moving messages: Mobile Technology for Social Change .......................................... 50 Conclusion .................................................................................................................... 54 Chapter Six: Navigating the method................................................................................. 55 Research positioning..................................................................................................... 55 Data collection .............................................................................................................. 55 Methods......................................................................................................................... 56 NVivo............................................................................................................................ 57 v Coding in thematic analysis.......................................................................................... 58 Signs and myths ............................................................................................................ 64 Use of semiotics...........................................................................................................