THE ROLE OF INSTAGRAM IN ROMANTIC RELATIONSHIP DEVELOPMENT: AN EXPLORATION OF KNAPP’S RELATIONAL STAGE MODEL

Social media users in Indonesia are increasing today. Young adults aged 18 to 24 years old dominate around 39% of active Instagram users in Indonesia. The purpose of this study is to understand how couples use Instagram to develop their romantic relationships and reduce their uncertainty at the initiating stage of a relationship development. The method used in this the research was qualitative with a phenomenological research approach. The researchers interviewed two romantic couples, young adults who were active Instagram users - log in daily and actively engage in the platform. This study has shown that Instagram has replaced Facebook as the first information-seeking tool and the main platform for making an initial approach before face-to-face interaction in young adults. The tangible difference lies in how the stranger gets acquainted on Instagram at the initiating stage and how they show off their affection of ‘inrelationship’ at the bonding stage. Further, the result indicates that Instagram is the most common means of passive uncertainty reduction strategy at the initiating stage of relationship development, followed by interactive strategy, and active strategy as the final stage.