DON'T FEED THE TROLLS!: Managing troublemakers in magazines' online communities

“Trolling” and other negative behaviour on magazine websites is widespread, ranging from subtly provocative behaviour to outright abuse. Publishers have sought to develop lively online communities, with high levels of user-generated content. Methods of building sites have developed quickly, but methods of managing them have lagged behind. Some publishers have then felt overwhelmed by the size and behaviour of the communities they have created. This paper considers the reasons behind trolling and the tools digital editors have developed to manage their communities, taking up the role of Zygmunt Bauman's gardeners in what they sometimes refer to as “walled gardens” within the Internet's wild domains. Interviews were conducted with online editors at the front line of site management at Bauer, Giraffe, IPC, Natmags, RBI and the Times. This article shows how publishers are designing sites that encourage constructive posting, and taking a more active part in site management. Web 2.0 and the spread of broadband, which have made management of fast-growing communities difficult, may themselves bring positive change. As uploading material becomes technically easier, “ordinary” citizens can outnumber those who, lacking social skills or with little regard for social norms, originally made the Internet their natural habitat

Facebook’s Ugly Sisters: Anonymity and Abuse on Formspring and Ask.fm

New question and answer websites Ask.fm and Formspring have brought highly specific and personal abuse to a new level amongst young people by providing easy anonymity to users within a circle of offline friendship groups culled from Facebook. Relatively unknown due to their unattractiveness to adults, these sites are growing rapidly and have already been associated with at least eight suicides amongst teenagers. Media educators at school level encouraging self-awareness of social media use need to be aware of this new trend. At higher levels, these sites provide a fascinating current case-study of online disinhibition, and fit into ethical and legal debates on the responsibilities of platform providers, and of individuals as media producers. This paper is based on an anonymous online survey of 302 13- to 16-year-olds at a British state girls’ school. Results showed abuse levels were significantly higher than on Facebook or Twitter. The girls felt using the Q&A sites with their real names felt more real than when asking questions anonymously, but receiving anonymous abuse felt significantly more real than either. Opinions as to the acceptability of “sending hate” were mixed, with some users feeling victims had no right to complain if they had entered the forum. Copyright Auteur Publishing Ltd

Fair game? Journalists’ experiences of online abuse

Online abuse of journalists through comments below articles or on Twitter is now ubiquitous. The tough-minded industry culture means it has generally been dismissed as unimportant, however high-profile cases of rape and bomb threats have given it greater significance. This research, based on a survey of 267 journalists and four detailed interviews, sought to establish what effect it had on them and their behaviour. Results showed women were more likely than men to report often receiving insults or threats, and had stronger emotional reactions to abuse. News reporters were more likely to report abuse than other sectors of the industry, and were more likely to report problems with online gangs. Many described their powerlessness when targeted by organised gangs. Some respondents described serious problems offline and online, including leaving jobs and self-censoring due to fear of abuse

Twitter city and Facebook village: Teenage girls’ personas and experiences influenced by choice architecture in social networking sites

Anonymity was once the norm online, but uploading personal information on social networks is now ubiquitous amongst teenagers, leading to new concerns about abandonment of privacy and obsessive self-grooming of online identities. However, researchers have not examined whether different social networks result in differing behaviour or happiness, which should be a key issue for media practitioners involved in social network design. This research examines whether different SNs affect behaviour and happiness differently by examining usage of Facebook, Twitter and Q&A sites Formspring and Ask by 342 teenage girls. Results showed they felt more confident on Twitter than Facebook, but were more likely to agree their Facebook personas were “the real me”. Fewer negative experiences were reported on Twitter. Despite Ask.fm’s appalling reputation, there was little statistical difference between it and Facebook across most categories. Though judgemental about ‘fake’ behaviour, girls reported often concealing their feelings. This article shows behaviour, influenced by site architecture, has created varying environments, through new media practices which can be characterised as “choice architecture” or “persuasive design”. In turn, these differing environments continue to influence users’ behaviour. Understanding these mechanisms could help site designers create safer online environments which promote rather than degrade users’ mental health. Persuasive design on SNS also has implications for researchers seeking to understand behaviour on these platforms and craft future studies, as well as being an important field of future study in its own right

New Heroines for New Causes: How provincial women promoted a revisionist history through post-suffrage pageants

The selection and promotion of powerful role models was a major source of inspiration during the suffrage movement, with figures such as Joan of Arc invoked as justifying women’s rights. This research shows the tradition continued post-1914, but with a different focus. Well over a hundred amateur pageants of noble women were staged with a changing pantheon reflecting women’s new roles and aspirations. These events were staged by both religious and secular groups throughout Britain, but were most common in the small industrial towns of the Pennines, the South West and North East where Nonconformity was strong. The pageants varied from a couple of dozen performers to a thousand, with newspapers frequently praising their elaborate costumes and historical accuracy. Though certain formats and characters appeared regularly, narrative choices often reflected the organisers’ tastes, sometimes introducing local heroines or reclaiming the Bible as a source of inspiration for powerful women

Nobility, Duty and Courage: Propaganda and Inspiration in Interwar Women’s and Girls’ Pageants

Though the interwar years have been characterised as having limited opportunities for women compared to the excitement of the suffragette campaigns and wartime, the organisation of pageants gave them a chance to literally step on to the public stage. Even where managing committees and script writers were largely male, women were often the backstage driving force of costumiers, organisers, ticket sellers and performers. But occasionally women took over the entire production, creating pageants in female-only institutions ranging from small girls’ schools to huge groups of Women’s Institutes. The results were enormously varied productions, from the very traditional messages of the Girls’ Friendly Society (to which only virgins were admitted) to the unorthodox heroines of the Methodist sisterhoods. Their choices of characters and framing give us an insight into the varied politics and visions of these buoyantly optimistic years, in which newly-enfranchised women were exploring for the first time what their new citizenship meant. Class, religious belief and education were all reflected in the histories they chose to portray

He or She: Reporting court cases of trans-identified defendants in the UK

Reporting of court cases with trans-identified defendants has become both more common and more difficult due to changing guidance to court officials, and a lack of regulatory guidance to media organisations. This has resulted in confusing articles and abuse of journalists. This research examined 138 media reports of 39 UK court cases concerning defendants who claimed to be transgender. The results showed great variation in journalistic practice regarding pronouns, use of names and terminology. Journalists were asked for the reasoning behind editorial decisions. Stakeholders were also invited to give their opinions on current and ideal reporting practice. Current legal and regulatory guidelines in the UK were reviewed. Guidance is given to enable journalists to report these cases safely and accurately

What makes a target: politicians and abuse on social media [Note: The chapter “What makes a target: politicians and abuse on social media” from the edited collection “Anti Social Media?” was reprinted in the British Journalism Review under the title “And they thought papers were rude.”]

Politicians are known to be targets for some of the worst abuse on social media, including rape and death threats. But exactly how bad is it? Who gets it worst? And where is this onslaught of negativity taking us? This article is based on the analysis of all tweets sent as single @messages to British MPs between December 2016 and the general election in June 2017. This dataset of roughly 80,000 tweets was categorised using sentiment analysis software into hostile, disagree and other. The results show little difference in levels of hostility by gender, race or political party. The major drivers of long-term hostility were high profile jobs and criticising Corbyn. Incautious public appearances or tweets resulted in major spikes. Scottish politics also proved more aggressive. The effect of publicity due to high profile jobs on hostility may partly explain the relatively flat relationship between hostility and gender/race, as front bench jobs are more likely to be filled by white men

The remoaner queen under attack: the trolling of Gina Miller

Gina Miller shot to fame after taking the British government to court for attempting to force through Article 50, the mechanism, which started the Brexit process. It was a case that, like the 2016 Referendum itself, polarised Britain. While Leavers were outraged that their vote to exit the EU was not the final word, Remainers watched with bated breath in hope that their disaster could turn to triumph. In the middle was the previously unknown financier Gina Miller. Articulate, photogenic and unafraid to comment on a controversial issue, she might have been made for the media. Widespread coverage led to her becoming a hate figure online, with two men arrested for making threats to kill her. This study analyses 18,036 tweets, which include the username @thatginamiller, from October 1, 2016 to February 27, 2017, from just before the opening of her High Court case to beyond the Supreme Court ruling on January 26