The recent boom in popularity of the social media app TikTok has provided more opportunities for users in a committed relationship to express their love to their partner through features such as video sharing, tagging, or creating content together. The purpose of this study is to learn how romantic partners use TikTok to support relationship maintenance; in addition, this study draws on research related to the five love languages to gauge how romantic partners express their love for each other using TikTok. Interviews with eight individuals involved in long-term romantic relationships revealed how TikTok assists with relationship maintenance. Six themes emerged from the interview data showing that romantic partners use TikTok for self-disclosure, meta communication, activity planning, connection, convenience, and humor. In addition, respondents explained in detail how four of the five love languages are satisfied and expressed via TikTok.
","abstract_html":"<p>The recent boom in popularity of the social media app TikTok has provided more opportunities for users in a committed relationship to express their love to their partner through features such as video sharing, tagging, or creating content together. The purpose of this study is to learn how romantic partners use TikTok to support relationship maintenance; in addition, this study draws on research related to the five love languages to gauge how romantic partners express their love for each other using TikTok. Interviews with eight individuals involved in long-term romantic relationships revealed how TikTok assists with relationship maintenance. Six themes emerged from the interview data showing that romantic partners use TikTok for self-disclosure, meta communication, activity planning, connection, convenience, and humor. In addition, respondents explained in detail how four of the five love languages are satisfied and expressed via TikTok.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Nemes, Shannon"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Master of Arts (MA)","degree_level":"Open Access Thesis","degree_discipline":"Communication, Media and Theatre Arts","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Jeannette Kindred, Ph.D., Chair","Jamie Ward, Ph.D.","Dennis O’Grady, Ph.D."],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2022,"date_issued":"2022-01-01T08:00:00Z","date_published":"2022-01-01T08:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T02:17:47Z","subjects":["Communication","Love Languages","Relationship Maintenance","Social Media","Tiktok"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://commons.emich.edu/theses/1168","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Jeannette Kindred, Ph.D., Chair","Jamie Ward, Ph.D.","Dennis O’Grady, Ph.D."]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Nemes, Shannon"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2022-10-24T07:00:00Z"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Communication, Media and Theatre Arts"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Open Access Thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Master of Arts (MA)"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Communication","Love Languages","Relationship Maintenance","Social Media","Tiktok"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://commons.emich.edu/theses/1168"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["The recent boom in popularity of the social media app TikTok has provided more opportunities for users in a committed relationship to express their love to their partner through features such as video sharing, tagging, or creating content together. The purpose of this study is to learn how romantic partners use TikTok to support relationship maintenance; in addition, this study draws on research related to the five love languages to gauge how romantic partners express their love for each other using TikTok. Interviews with eight individuals involved in long-term romantic relationships revealed how TikTok assists with relationship maintenance. Six themes emerged from the interview data showing that romantic partners use TikTok for self-disclosure, meta communication, activity planning, connection, convenience, and humor. In addition, respondents explained in detail how four of the five love languages are satisfied and expressed via TikTok.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["The use of TikTok for relationship maintenance: An exploratory study"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Jeannette Kindred, Ph.D., Chair","Jamie Ward, Ph.D.","Dennis O’Grady, Ph.D."],"dc:creator":["Nemes, Shannon"],"dc:date.available":["2022-10-24T07:00:00Z"],"dc:description.abstract":["The recent boom in popularity of the social media app TikTok has provided more opportunities for users in a committed relationship to express their love to their partner through features such as video sharing, tagging, or creating content together. The purpose of this study is to learn how romantic partners use TikTok to support relationship maintenance; in addition, this study draws on research related to the five love languages to gauge how romantic partners express their love for each other using TikTok. Interviews with eight individuals involved in long-term romantic relationships revealed how TikTok assists with relationship maintenance. Six themes emerged from the interview data showing that romantic partners use TikTok for self-disclosure, meta communication, activity planning, connection, convenience, and humor. In addition, respondents explained in detail how four of the five love languages are satisfied and expressed via TikTok.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://commons.emich.edu/theses/1168"],"dc:subject":["Communication","Love Languages","Relationship Maintenance","Social Media","Tiktok"],"dc:title":["The use of TikTok for relationship maintenance: An exploratory study"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Communication, Media and Theatre Arts"],"thesis:degree_level":["Open Access Thesis"],"thesis:degree_name":["Master of Arts (MA)"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T02:17:47Z"}