#NotSafeAnywhere: Twitter, "Trolls" and the Silencing of Women

Abstract

This research study explores women’s individual experiences of harassment on Twitter, a social media platform, with the purpose of expanding our knowledge base on the unique and particular ways women experience harassment due to their gender. It presents works in popular and academic literature on gender stereotypes, the gendered nature of online harassment, the impact of harassment on the individual and society as it relates to the position of women in the public space. A qualitative content analysis was conducted to analyze data collected from seven semistructured interviews with women who were regular users of Twitter. Through the analysis, I demonstrate how “gendertrolling” of women can be seen as a strategy used to silence women. The findings indicate that harassment can affect individual’s psychological well-being as it takes a toll on their mental and emotional health. All the participants tended not to respond to incidents of harassment and instead, censored the self to avoid future harassment. Responses to harassment by the public are usually insufficient and serve to reinforce the idea that harassment and abuse is a characteristic of online spaces and places responsibility on victims. I conclude by asserting that it is imperative that measures are taken to tackle online harassment and to make online spaces safer for women.

Keywords: Online Harassment, Social Media, Twitter, Gendertrolling, Gender, Stereotypes, Silencing