Hell Hath no Fury Like the Chronically Online: Violence, Social Media, and Social Movements
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Authors
Bush, Allison
Kenney, Lauren
Squier, Ella
Issue Date
2024-04-04
Type
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Abstract
Through the development of the internet, social media has become an everyday medium that most individuals use daily. It has allowed people of all demographics to connect instantaneously and constantly. Specifically, it has increased the diversification of social movements through its various mediums, but is this always a good thing? Social media has allowed users to hide behind their anonymity while promoting themes and values they would not otherwise endorse for fear of social repercussions. Public sentiment of social movements has been found to move negatively when acts of violence are committed in the name of that social movement. However, this study aims to see if these sentiments are repeated when observed on social media. A difference in results and sentiments is hypothesized as the structure of social media and its power dynamics can promote hateful or even violent interactions among users. Using datasets to find events and acts of violence in the name of various social movements, this study analyzes their effects on the public sentiment of those movements via web scraping social media posts and then running the data through sentiment analysis. Additionally, the data was analyzed for themes and patterns regarding political affiliation and common attitudes toward violence. Finally, the data was compared to previous research indicating a certain tolerance towards violence depending on an individual’s political stance.