IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v21y2024i12p1699-d1548120.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Networks of Negativity: Gaining Attention Through Cyberbullying

Author

Listed:
  • Diane Felmlee

    (Department of Sociology and Criminology, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802, USA)

  • Sara Francisco

    (Department of Sociology, Grinnell College, Grinnell, IA 50112, USA)

  • Melissa Hardy

    (Department of Sociology and Criminology, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802, USA)

Abstract

Cyberbullying entails multiple, problematic consequences for its victims. However, little is known about the factors that influence the dispersion of these damaging messages. Drawing on theories of social interaction, we argue that perpetrators disseminate messages containing sexist and racist slurs that reinforce stereotypical, social norms to enhance their online visibility. We collected cross-sectional and longitudinal samples of tweets (N = 539,558 and 248,497, respectively) that included either gender or Asian slurs. We find that tweets containing gender or Asian slurs that were more negative in sentiment had a significantly higher number of retweets than more positive tweets, thereby heightening a user’s online presence and the reach of their content. Two historical events unfolded during our study—the onset of COVID-19 and the murder of George Floyd by a police officer. Tweet negativity increased following both events. Our findings demonstrate the capacity of aggressive tweets to generate wide-ranging networks, a process which is exacerbated further by public crises. Results suggest that the practice of sending such messages is strategic. Perpetrators likely engage in cyberbullying, consciously or not, to increase their online attention. Moreover, this strategy appears to be successful.

Suggested Citation

  • Diane Felmlee & Sara Francisco & Melissa Hardy, 2024. "Networks of Negativity: Gaining Attention Through Cyberbullying," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 21(12), pages 1-18, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:21:y:2024:i:12:p:1699-:d:1548120
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/21/12/1699/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/21/12/1699/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Thu T. Nguyen & Shaniece Criss & Pallavi Dwivedi & Dina Huang & Jessica Keralis & Erica Hsu & Lynn Phan & Leah H. Nguyen & Isha Yardi & M. Maria Glymour & Amani M. Allen & David H. Chae & Gilbert C. G, 2020. "Exploring U.S. Shifts in Anti-Asian Sentiment with the Emergence of COVID-19," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(19), pages 1-13, September.
    2. Ujué Agudo & Helena Matute, 2021. "The influence of algorithms on political and dating decisions," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 16(4), pages 1-17, April.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Ian Peacock & Emily Ryo, 2022. "A study of pandemic and stigma effects in removal proceedings," Journal of Empirical Legal Studies, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 19(3), pages 560-593, September.
    2. Galetsi, Panagiota & Katsaliaki, Korina & Kumar, Sameer, 2022. "The medical and societal impact of big data analytics and artificial intelligence applications in combating pandemics: A review focused on Covid-19," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 301(C).
    3. Shaniece Criss & Thu T. Nguyen & Samantha Norton & Imaya Virani & Eli Titherington & Emma Lou Tillmanns & Courtney Kinnane & Gabrielle Maiolo & Anne B. Kirby & Gilbert C. Gee, 2021. "Advocacy, Hesitancy, and Equity: Exploring U.S. Race-Related Discussions of the COVID-19 Vaccine on Twitter," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(11), pages 1-12, May.
    4. Glenda Ballantyne & Vincent Giarrusso, 2023. "Asian Australian Experiences of Racism During the COVID-19 Pandemic in Victoria: a Preliminary Analysis," Journal of International Migration and Integration, Springer, vol. 24(3), pages 1437-1453, September.
    5. Mazhar Javed Awan & Muhammad Haseeb Bilal & Awais Yasin & Haitham Nobanee & Nabeel Sabir Khan & Azlan Mohd Zain, 2021. "Detection of COVID-19 in Chest X-ray Images: A Big Data Enabled Deep Learning Approach," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(19), pages 1-16, September.
    6. Acolin, Jessica & Fishman, Paul, 2023. "Beyond the biomedical, towards the agentic: A paradigm shift for population health science," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 326(C).
    7. Jiepin Cao & Chiyoung Lee & Wenyang Sun & Jennie C. De Gagne, 2022. "The #StopAsianHate Movement on Twitter: A Qualitative Descriptive Study," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(7), pages 1-11, March.
    8. Naroa Martínez & Aranzazu Vinas & Helena Matute, 2021. "Examining potential gender bias in automated-job alerts in the Spanish market," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 16(12), pages 1-15, December.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:21:y:2024:i:12:p:1699-:d:1548120. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.