Author: Hanna-Stina Ivarsson Title: When life gives you loneliness – A netnographic study of loneliness amongst young adults Supervisor: Peter Hultgren Assessor: Torbjörn Forkby 

Summary Loneliness is a threat to our health and researchers believe that the loneliness epidemic is the new public disease of our time. In the meantime, single households and individualization in Sweden is increasing, this is happening at the same time as natural meeting places are increasingly disappearing. This is precisely why it is important to learn to manage and break the involuntary loneliness that so many people experience. Loneliness has become an important topic for professionals in social work, but there is a lack of knowledge and strategies to meet and manage involuntary loneliness. There is a perception in society today that it is the elderly who are the loneliest, but new research shows that a change has taken place, and it is young adults who experience loneliness to the greatest extent. 

In this study I was interested in investigating how young adults (16-29) themselves depicts the loneliness they live in and what they do to manage and break this loneliness. In order to obtain the results of the study, I have used a qualitative netnographic method. The empirical material has been collected in three popular Swedish discussion forums. I found that the majority of young adults who suffer from loneliness also suffer from some form of mental illness. Furthermore, many feel ashamed about their situation and feel that their life is at a standstill. The strategies used to manage and break loneliness seem to be a complex combination of emotional and problem-focused coping