ABSTRACT

Research question

Online abuse is prevalent in sport and can be the by-product of trigger events – reactive social media posts that motivate online hate. Little is known about what triggers online abuse, types of content, and how this impacts certain groups. The current research examined how online behaviour emerges, and evolves during a trigger event, through a gendered lens.

Research methods

This research employed a two phase, mixed methods approach of a digital netnography with participation observation through social network analysis and thematic content analysis of 1332 (N = 1332) tweets in the United Kingdom. The trigger event examined abusive content toward Karen Carney following post-match football commentary on 29 December 2020.

Results and findings

Results identified 590 individuals who formed two distinct groups. Directed network visualisation indicated Carney was the focus of the trigger event. Thematic time series analysis revealed emotional maltreatment (i.e. ridiculing, humiliating, belittling) progressing to overt gendered discriminatory maltreatment.

Implications

Findings support the need for safeguarding policies for target groups, as trigger events escalate quickly, and group affiliations impact abusive content. From a theoretical standpoint, in-group and out-group affiliations resulted in rhetoric highlighting persistent, gendered socio-normative issues within sport, amplified in an online environment.

中文翻译：

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“滚回厨房吧，因为你在电视上胡言乱语”：性别化的网络虐待并引发体育赛事

摘要

研究问题

网络虐待在体育运动中很普遍，并且可能是触发事件的副产品——引发网络仇恨的反应性社交媒体帖子。人们对引发在线滥用的原因、内容类型以及这如何影响某些群体知之甚少。当前的研究通过性别视角探讨了在线行为在触发事件期间如何出现和演变。

研究方法

这项研究采用了数字网络志的两阶段混合方法，通过社交网络分析和 英国1332 ( N = 1332) 条推文的主题内容分析进行参与观察。触发事件审查了 2020 年 12 月 29 日赛后足球评论后针对凯伦·卡尼 (Karen Carney) 的辱骂内容。

结果和发现

结果确定了 590 名个体，他们形成了两个不同的群体。定向网络可视化表明卡尼是触发事件的焦点。主题时间序列分析显示，情感虐待（即嘲笑、羞辱、贬低）正在发展为公然的性别歧视性虐待。

影响

调查结果支持保护目标群体政策的必要性，因为触发事件迅速升级，群体隶属关系会影响滥用内容。从理论的角度来看，群体内和群体外的归属导致了强调体育运动中持续存在的、性别化的社会规范问题的言论，这些问题在网络环境中得到了放大。