Identities and exposure to online violence. Approach to a thematic classification of hate messages

Abstract

Introduction: Ideas that promote justice and equality circulate through social networks, allowing, at the same time, the propagation of hate messages that favour exerting online violence. Under these premises, based on the perception of the youth population within the territory of the Autonomous Community of Andalusia, violence on social networks is quantified, described and systematized from a gender perspective. Methodology: A questionnaire survey was conducted using a quantitative approach. The form was distributed among the population aged between 14 and 30, using the snowball technique, and a total of 938 participants were registered. Results: A different impact of violence according to sex and sexual orientation is shown, with women and especially people who declare themselves as non-binary being the ones who have received more aggressions, as well as those people defined themselves with a non-heteronormative sexual orientation. Regarding the themes and categories systematized from the violent accounts collected, clearly those referring to physical aspect and political and ideological stances account for almost half of the total comments. Discussion and conclusions: the analysis of networked violence, especially the attack on non-normative bodies, subversive identities and diverse subjectivities, is explored in greater depth.