Ecologies of Violence on Social Media

An Exploration of Practices, Contexts, and Grammars of Online Harm

Bibliographic Data

ID2414682
AuthorsEsteban Morales (0000-0002-6691-3983, University of British Columbia, corresponding author)
Year2023
Volume9
Issue3
Publication date2023-07-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueSocial Media + Society (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 2056-3051 • E-ISSN: 2056-3051
PublisherSAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1177/20563051231196882
OpenAlexW4386548092
LanguageEN
Citations received13
References cited48

Violence is an almost ubiquitous phenomenon in contemporary digital environments. In this context, there is a growing need to understand how violence is enacted and represented on social media. Drawing from a case study where Colombian young adults discussed the violence they interacted with on their everyday uses of digital platforms, this article explores how violence on social media is experienced and understood by users. Findings emphasize the need to look at violence on digital platforms as a multifaceted, fluid, overlapping, and interconnected phenomenon. In light of these results, I suggest framing current harmful practices as ecologies of violence. To better explore these ecologies, I outline three specific areas that highlight how violence is transformed on social media: practices, contexts, and grammars. Overall, this study emphasizes the need to recognize and address the complexity of violence in social media-a necessary step toward building cultures of peace in and outside of our digital environments

Digital media · Epistemology · Geography · Harm · Phenomenon · Social media · Sociology · World Wide Web · Bullying, Victimization, and Aggression · Computer Science · Hate Speech and Cyberbullying Detection · Psychology · Social Media and Politics · Social Psychology

Tools

Open DOIOpen Access