Whilst I focused on female-oriented online harassment and trolling in my weekly discussion post this week, it is not to understate or ignore the prevalence of trolling and online harassment received and experienced by men and the non-binary.
Dylan Marron challenges these negative and hateful comments by talking with the individuals who have posted hateful and derogatory comments to his public profile spaces. He does this through his podcast ‘Conversations with People Who Hate Me’, ultimately using his platform to engage in meaningful and productive conversations offline.
Here is a quick trailer explaining the concept behind his podcast.
Dylan Marron 2017, ‘Conversations with People Who Hate Me’, 11th of July, viewed the 28th of May 2020, <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ls2mTKcBjrI&feature=youtu.be>
Additionally, here is a link to the podcast which is available on most popular podcast platforms (ie: Spotify, Google Play, Apple Podcasts etc):
What does online harassment and trolling look like?
I would like to preface this post with a content warning as some of the topics and issues to be discussed may trigger some individuals. All sensitive topics will be discussed under the cut.
The link below is for a website called 'rapeglish' - a random rape threat generator which uses real-life cyberhate received by real-life women to give provide you with a randomly generated threat. As a content and trigger warning, the generator contains extremely explicit, violent and racist commentary, so please be cautioned if that content may upset you.
Internet accounts with feminine usernames incur an average of 100 sexually explicit or threatening messages a day, while masculine names receive just under four (Gleeson 2019). This website provides an ugly insight into the content that can invade women's' feeds and inboxes.
http://rapeglish.com/RRTG.html
Gleeson, J 2019, ‘Week 8 Lecture. Gender: Violence, abuse and harassment online', MDA20003 Networked Selves, Modules via Canvas, Swinburne University of Technology, 2nd of October, viewed 28th of May 2020.
I would like to preface this post with a content warning as some of the topics and issues to be discussed may trigger some individuals. All sensitive topics will be discussed under the cut.
Social media platforms and social networking sites have systematically integrated themselves into becoming a ubiquitous medium and have held a "profound impact... on almost every sphere of our [every day] lives" (Hardaker 2010, pg. 223). More than 4.5 billion people have access to the internet, 3.8 billion of which are avid social media users (Kemp 2020). And whilst these internet-enabled communications and social mediums "can benefit users by providing quick and easy communication between those separated by time and space", they can simultaneously allow for "varying degrees of anonymity that may encourage a sense of impunity and freedom from being held accountable for inappropriate online behaviour" (Hardaker 2010, pg. 215). An example of this unbecoming online behaviour is online harassment - sometimes synonymously referred to as 'cyber abuse', 'cyberbullying', and 'bullying' (Marwick and Caplan 2018, pg. 544).
Figure 1. Cyber Monday GIF. Source; Giphy c. 2020.
Cyber abuse refers to inappropriate online behaviour that makes use of the internet as a means "to threaten, intimidate, harass or humiliate someone — with the intent to hurt them socially, psychologically or even physically" (ESafety c. 2020). When women “gather ‘en masse’" into a shared public sphere, especially in an attempt to discuss feminism and feminist related discourse, "they are not uncommonly the target of negative attention from individuals, mostly men, who feel threatened by or otherwise uncomfortable with feminism" (Boyd 2012, p. 74: Herring et al. 2011, pg. 374). Women, particularly women of colour and women within the LGBTQ+ community, are more susceptible to online harassment (Marwick and Caplan 2018, pg. 545).
Figure 2. Tech Mic GIF. Source; Giphy c. 2020.
Online harassment can be experienced as trolling. Further, trolling can be defined as the "posting of provocative, often deliberately misleading and pointless, comments with the intent of provoking others into conflict and/or meaningless discussion” (Klyueva 2013). Additionally, the intentions of a troll are to disrupt the normal communication discourse in the intent of entertaining or amusing oneself (Klyueva 2013). However, the intentions behind their taunting and inappropriate commentary may not be simply justified as personal amusement but may stem from more ‘serious’ motives including political goals (Dahlberg 2001, pg. 12).
In severe cases, online harassment can present itself as threats of violence and rape: hacking to gain personal details: the threat of, or actual, doxing: photoshopped images or videos, typically depicting graphic violence: the hacking of personal websites and Wikipedia vandalism - in high profile cases -such as the case Anita Sarkeesian during the GamerGate controversy (figure 3 and figure 4) (Gleeson 2019).
Many of the strategies employed within networked harassment, such as doxing, revenge porn, image-based abuse, social shaming, and intimidation have been refined by the ‘manosphere’ - “a set of blogs, podcasts, and forums comprised of pickup artists, men’s rights activists, anti-feminists, and fringe groups” - during the Gamergate controversy (Marwick and Caplan 2018, pg. 543/544).
Figure 3. Anita Sarkeesian Wikipedia Vandalism: 1. Source; Wikimedia Commons c. 2020.
Figure 4. Anita Sarkeesian Wikipedia Vandalism: 2. Source; Sarkeesian 2012.
Whilst mainstream discourse typically illustrates online harassment as an issue of singular individuals being engaged in and contributing to, detestable online behaviour, online harassment is often networked in that it is coordinated and organized (Marwick and Caplan 2018, pg. 543). From which groups can regularly “encourage, promote, or instigate systemic networked harassment against their targets” (Marwick and Caplan 2018, pg. 544).
‘#GamerGate’ was “an online movement ostensibly concerned with ethics in game journalism and with protecting the ‘gamer’ identity” (Hathaway 2014). The hashtag emerged as a response to the challenged presence of sexism and misogyny within gaming culture towards women in their representation sparked by feminist media critic Anita Sarkeesian. Since beginning her ‘Tropes vs. Video Games’ series, “which deconstructs sexist stereotypes in video games, Sarkeesian has been a persistent victim of harassing behavior, including death threats, slurs, and sexually violent language, originating from various far-right and men’s rights groups” (Marwick and Caplan 2018, pg. 543).
Social media, whilst a godsend, comes with its own unique opportunities of exploration, anonymity and community building. But we have to remember, trolling is not a game and shouldn’t be taken lightly, it can hold real, tangible consequences - with great power, comes great responsibility.
References:
'Anita Sarkeesian Wikipedia Vandalism: 1' [image], in Wikimedia Commons c. 2020, 'File: Anita Sarkeesian - Wikipedia Harassment.png', viewed the 28th of May 2020, <https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Anita_Sarkeesian_-_Wikipedia_Harassment.png>
'Anita Sarkeesian Wikipedia Vandalism: 2' [image], in Sarkeesian 2012, 'Harassment via Wikipedia Vandalism', Feminist Frequency, 10th of June, viewed the 28th of May 2020, <https://feministfrequency.com/2012/06/10/harassment-and-misogyny-via-wikipedia/>
Boyd, D 2012, ‘Participating in The Always-On Lifestyle’, in M Mandiberg (ed), The Social Media Reader, New York University Press, New York, pp. 71-76.
'Cyber Monday GIF' [GIF], in Giphy c. 2020, Cyber Bullying, Giphy, viewed the 28th of May 2020, <https://giphy.com/gifs/monday-feel-cyber-iAKXyzgLVtKsU>
Dahlberg, L 2001, 'Computer‐Mediated Communication and The Public Sphere: A Critical Analysis', Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, October 2001, vol. 7, no. 1
ESafety c. 2020, 'Adult cyber abuse', Australian Government: ESafety Commissioner, viewed the 28th of May 2020, <https://www.esafety.gov.au/key-issues/adult-cyber-abuse>
Gleeson, J 2019, 'Week 8 Lecture. Gender: Violence, abuse and harassment online', MDA20003 Networked Selves, Modules via Canvas, Swinburne University of Technology, 2nd of October, viewed 28th of May 2020.
Hardaker, C 2010, 'Trolling in asynchronous computer-mediated communication: From user discussions to academic definitions', Journal of Politeness Research, vol. 6, no. 2, pp. 215-242
Hathaway, J 2014, 'What Is Gamergate, and Why? An Explainer for Non-Geeks', Gawker, 10th of October, viewed 28th of May 2020, <https://gawker.com/what-is-gamergate-and-why-an-explainer-for-non-geeks-1642909080>
Herring, S, Job-Sluder, K, Scheckler, R, Barab, S 2011, 'Searching for Safety Online: Managing "Trolling" in a Feminist Forum', The Information Society, 1st of October, vol. 18, no. 5, pp.371-384
Kemp, S 2020, 'DIGITAL 2020: 3.8 BILLION PEOPLE USE SOCIAL MEDIA', We Are Social, 30th of January, viewed the 28th of May 2020, <https://wearesocial.com/blog/2020/01/digital-2020-3-8-billion-people-use-social-media>
Klyueva, A, 'Trolling', in Heath, R (ed), 'Encyclopedia of Public Relations', Sage Publications
Marwick, E, Caplan, R 2018, 'Drinking male tears: language, the manosphere, and networked harassment' Feminist Media Studies, vol. 18, no. 4, pp. 543-559
'Tech Mic GIF' [GIF], in Giphy c. 2020, Online Harassment, Giphy, viewed the 28th of May 2020, <https://giphy.com/gifs/mic-bullying-online-harassment-cyber-5gZWkeTWjGw8M>
