Digital (group) communication away from the public sphere

Although digital media have become an integral part of everyday life, certain aspects remain largely unexplored. One such aspect is the use of digital media in private contexts, such as chat groups. Applications like messengers are gaining increasing popularity, making the communication that occurs in these spaces crucial for understanding societal developments. This includes areas such as consumer decision-making, social cohesion, and political opinion formation. Therefore, studying communication in these settings provides significant insights into our current society.

Our research project aims to understand the social contexts in which people are embedded through private digital communication. We differentiate between contexts of social integration and community formation, examining how these connections are formed, what boundaries are established, and how stable these connections are.