MeToo: Disclosure and Response to Sexual Victimization on Twitter

Communication on Twitter surrounding violence against women often occurs through the use of “hashtags” that allow users to engage in shared discourse. The present study examined utilization of the Twitter hashtag #MeToo, which emerged in 2017 as a method for disclosing personal experiences of sexual...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of interpersonal violence Vol. 36; no. 17-18; pp. 8257 - 8288
Main Authors: Bogen, Katherine W., Bleiweiss, Kaitlyn K., Leach, Nykia R., Orchowski, Lindsay M.
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: Los Angeles, CA SAGE Publications 01.09.2021
SAGE PUBLICATIONS, INC
Subjects:
Computer mediated communication
Disclosure
Gender-based violence
Personal experiences
Qualitative research
Sex crimes
Sexual violence
Social media
Social networks
Survivor
Trauma
Victimization
Victims of Crime
Violence
Violence against women
MeToo
disclosure
sexual violence
social media
response
ISSN:0886-2605, 1552-6518, 1552-6518
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Communication on Twitter surrounding violence against women often occurs through the use of “hashtags” that allow users to engage in shared discourse. The present study examined utilization of the Twitter hashtag #MeToo, which emerged in 2017 as a method for disclosing personal experiences of sexual victimization. Specifically, the present study sought to clarify how Twitter users utilized the #MeToo tag to disclose and respond to sexual violence by conducting a qualitative analysis of a random sample of tweets using #MeToo (N = 1,660). Survivors frequently prioritized the “who,” “what,” “where,” “when,” “why,” and “how” of personal trauma experiences when disclosing using #MeToo. Twitter users also reflected on the prevalence of violence in society, acted as advocates to highlight the problem of violence against women, called attention to the experiences of other survivors of violence, or utilized the forum in a manner that distracted from survivors’ experiences. The present data highlight the utility of Twitter for raising awareness regarding the prevalence of sexual violence, and providing a space where users can share personal trauma, connect to others with similar experiences, and provide support to others.
Bibliography:ObjectType-Article-1
SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1
ObjectType-Feature-2
content type line 14
content type line 23
ISSN:0886-2605
1552-6518
1552-6518
DOI:10.1177/0886260519851211