Keyword – mediatisation

Sztáray Kézdy, Éva – Kovácsné Hegedűs, Dóra:

Examining the changing father image in the light of Instagram posts

As a result of the transformation of fatherhood in recent decades, besides the traditional, primarily breadwinning, protective father model, a modern father role has emerged, according to which the father is increasingly involved in the lives of his children. To date, social media are saturating more and more areas of life, and the mediatisation of parenthood and of fatherhood is on the rise. The presentation of fatherhood and the discussion of new trends in fatherhood are becoming increasingly popular among social media players and celebrity fathers. The main aim and question of this research is to explore the new father image and father identity in the context of Hungarian fathers’ Instagram posts. The findings of our explorative research, conducted through quantitative and qualitative textual analysis and visual analysis, point to the fact that the fatherly identity represented on Instagram portrays the image of the modern, actively caring father emotionally involved in his children’s lives. The focus on Instagram posts is mainly on the positive, idyllic, side of fatherhood, with the more difficult moments of parenthood not being portrayed.

Keywords: father’s involvement, Instagram, mediatisation, modern fatherhood, social media, text analysis