Twitter, Social Support Messages, and the #MeToo Movement
Keywords:
social support theory, Twitter, #MeToo, content analysis, sexual assault, sexual violence, weak-tie relationshipsAbstract
Since 2006 the phrase “Me Too” has been used to empower survivors of sexual abuse and assault. In October 15, 2017 the phrase spread to Twitter with the use of the hashtag by Alyssa Milano. In this content analysis of the use of the hashtag on Twitter, social support theory was applied to categorize the types of tweets communicated. The results indicated informational support messages were the most popular type of content tweeted by both individuals and organizations. The research argues for a new type of social support categorization, named directive support, to categorize messages that communicate a call for collective action to address larger issues that contribute to sexual violence and harassment. Implications related for weak-tie relationships for both victims and those who respond to them are discussed.
References
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of rape. American Journal of Community Psychology, 38, 263-274.
Andalibi, N., Haimson, O. L., De Choudhury, M., & Forte, A. (2016). Understanding social
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Barrera, M., Jr. (1986) Distinctions between social support concepts, measures, and models.
American Journal of Community Psychology, 14, 413-445.
Bogen, K. W., Millman, C., Huntington, F., & Orchowski, L. M. (2018). A qualitative analysis of
disclosing sexual victimization by #NotOkay during the 2016 presidential election. Violence and Gender, 00, 1-8.
Borja, S. E., Callahan, J. L., & Long, P. J. (2006). Positive and negative adjustment and social
support of sexual assault survivors. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 19, 905-914. doi.org/10.1002/jts.20169
Burleson, B. R., & MacGeorge, E., (2002). Supportive communication. In M. L. Knapp & J. A.
Daly (Eds.), Handbook of interpersonal communication (3rd edi., pp. 374-424). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
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24 hours. CBS News: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/metoo-more-than-12-million-facebook-posts-comments-reactions-24-hours/
Chou, S. (2018, January 23). Millions say #metoo. But not everyone is heard equally. PRI. Arts
section. Retrieved from: https://www.pri.org/stories/2018-01-23/millions-say-metoo-not-everyone-heard-equally
Cutrona, C. E., & Suhr, J. A. (1992). Controllability of stressful events and satisfaction with
spouse support behaviors. Communication Research, 19, 154-174. /doi/10.1177/009365092019002002
Fawcett, H., & Shrestha, L. (2016). Blogging about sexual assault: a thematic analysis. Journal
of Forensic Practice, 18, doi.org/10.1108/JFP-05-2015-0032
Filipas, H. H., & Ullman, S. E. (2001). Social reactions to victims of sexual assault from social
network members. Violence and Victims, 16, 673-692.
Haythornthwaite, C. (2002). Strong, weak, and latent ties and the impact of new media. The
Information Society, 18, 385-401.
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House, J. S., Landis, K. R., & Umberson, D. (1988). Social relationships and health.
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Mason, G. E., Ullman, S., Long, S. E., Long, L., & Starzynski, L. (2009). Social support and the
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sexual assault. Qualitative Social Work, 12, 799-815.
doi.org/10.1177/1473325012464383
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O’Neill, T. (2018). ‘Today I speak’: Exploring how victim-survivors use Reddit. International
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Rains, S. A., Peterson, E. B., & Wright, K. B. (2015). Communicating social support in
computer-mediated contexts: A meta-analytic review of content analyses examining support messages shared online among individuals coping with illness. Communication Monographs, 82,403-430. doi 10.1080/03637751.2015.1019530.
Rains, S. A., & Wright, K. B. (2016). Social support and computer-mediated-communication: A
state-of-the-art review and agenda for future research. Communication Yearbook, 40, 175-211. doi.org/10.1177/1473325012464383
Rentschler, C. (2017). Rape culture and the feminist politics of social media. Girlhood studies, 7,
65-82. doi.org/10.3167/ghs.2014.070106
Rui, J. R., Chen, Y, & Damiano, A. (2013). Health organizations providing and seeking social
support: A Twitter-based content analysis. Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking,16, 669-673. doi: 10.1089/cyber.2012.035
Sayej, N. (Dec., 2017). “Alyssa Milano on the #metoo movement: ‘We’re not going to stand for
it anymore.” The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2017/dec/01/alyssa-milano-mee-too-sexual-harassment-abuse.
Sills, S., Pickens, C., Beach, K., Jones, L., Calder-Dawe, O., Benton-Greig, P., Gavey, N. (2016).
Rape culture and social media: young critics and a feminist counterpublic. Feminist Media Studies,16, 1-17. doi.org/10.1080/14680777.2015.1137962
Smith, L. (2010). Does posting in an online community encourage young people to disclose
sexual assault or abuse? Retrieved from https://www.secasa.com.au/assets/Documents/does-posting-in-an-online-community-encourage-young-people-to-disclose.pdf
Starzynski, L. L., Ullman, Se. E., Filipas, H. H., & Townsend, S. M. (2005). Correlates of
women’s sexual assault disclosure to informal and formal support sources. Violence and Victims, 20, 415-431.doi.org/10.1891/vivi.2005.20.4.417
Tanis, M. (2008). What makes the Internet a place to seek social support. In E. A. Konijin, S.
Utz, M.Tanis, & S. B. Barnes (Eds.), Mediated interpersonal communication (pp. 290-308). New York NY: Routledge.
Trepte, S., Dienlin, T. & Reinecke, L. (2015). Influence of social support received in online and
offline contexts on satisfaction with social support and satisfaction with life: A longitudinal study. Media Psychology, 18, 74-105. https://doi.org/10.1080/15213269.2013.838904.
Ullman, S. E., & Peter-Hagene, L. (2014). Social reactions to sexual assault disclosure, coping,
perceived control, and PTSD symptoms in sexual assault victims. Journal of Community, 42, 495-508. doi.org/10.1002/jcop.21624
Valenzuela, S., Correa, T., & Gil de Zúñiga, H. (2018). Ties, likes, and tweets: Using strong and
weak ties to explain differences in protest participation across facebook and twitter use. Political Communication, 35(1), 117-134.
Walther, J. B., & Boyd, S. (2002). Attraction to computer-mediated social support. In C. A. Lin
& D. Atkin (Eds.), Communication technology and society: Audience adoption and uses (pp 153-188). Cresskill, NJ: Hampton Press.
Webber, R. (2014). Sexual assault in relationships: Seeking help on a Q&A website. Australian
Social Work, 67, 363-376. doi.org/10.1080/0312407X.2013.834065
Webber, R., & Wilmot, J. (2012). Social media and help seeking by young people on sexual
assault. Retrieved from https://adf.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/401_SocialMediaandHelpSeekingbyYoungPeopleonSexualAssault_SomazoneReport_2012.pdf
Wills, T. A. (1991) Social support and interpersonal relationships. In M. S. Clark (Ed.), Review
of personality and social psychology, Vol. 12: Prosocial behavior (pp. 265-289). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Wright, K. (2016). Social networks, interpersonal social support, and health outcomes: A health
communication perspective. Frontiers in Communication,1, 1-6. doi: 10.3389/fcomm.2016.00010.
Wright K. B., & Miller, C.H. (2010). A measure of weak tie/strong tie support network
preference: Theoretical rational, development, and validation of the W/STNP scale. Communication Monographs, 77, 502-520. https://doi.org/10.1080/03637751.2010.502538.
Wright, K. B., & Rains, S. A. (2013). Weak-tie support network preference, health-related
stigma, and health outcomes in computer-mediated support groups. Journal of Applied Communication Research, 41, 309-324. https://doi.org/10.1080/00909882.2013.792435.
of rape. American Journal of Community Psychology, 38, 263-274.
Andalibi, N., Haimson, O. L., De Choudhury, M., & Forte, A. (2016). Understanding social
media disclosures of sexual abuse through the lenses of support seeking and anonymity. CHI’16, 3906-3918. doi>10.1145/2858036.2858096
Balonon-Rosen, P. & Adams, K. (2018, March 9). One in 7 men say they’ve been sexually
harassed at work. Marketplace. Retrieved from https://www.marketplace.org/2018/03/09/business/we-asked-if-youd-been-sexually-harassed-work-one-7-men-said-yes.
Barbee, A. P., & Cunningham, M. R. (1995). An experimental approach to social support
communications: interactive coping in close relationships. In B. R. Burleson (Ed.) Communication Yearbook 18 (pp. 381-413). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Barrera, M., Jr. (1986) Distinctions between social support concepts, measures, and models.
American Journal of Community Psychology, 14, 413-445.
Bogen, K. W., Millman, C., Huntington, F., & Orchowski, L. M. (2018). A qualitative analysis of
disclosing sexual victimization by #NotOkay during the 2016 presidential election. Violence and Gender, 00, 1-8.
Borja, S. E., Callahan, J. L., & Long, P. J. (2006). Positive and negative adjustment and social
support of sexual assault survivors. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 19, 905-914. doi.org/10.1002/jts.20169
Burleson, B. R., & MacGeorge, E., (2002). Supportive communication. In M. L. Knapp & J. A.
Daly (Eds.), Handbook of interpersonal communication (3rd edi., pp. 374-424). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
CBS News. 2017, October 17). More than 12M ‘me too’ Facebook posts, comments, reactions in
24 hours. CBS News: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/metoo-more-than-12-million-facebook-posts-comments-reactions-24-hours/
Chou, S. (2018, January 23). Millions say #metoo. But not everyone is heard equally. PRI. Arts
section. Retrieved from: https://www.pri.org/stories/2018-01-23/millions-say-metoo-not-everyone-heard-equally
Cutrona, C. E., & Suhr, J. A. (1992). Controllability of stressful events and satisfaction with
spouse support behaviors. Communication Research, 19, 154-174. /doi/10.1177/009365092019002002
Fawcett, H., & Shrestha, L. (2016). Blogging about sexual assault: a thematic analysis. Journal
of Forensic Practice, 18, doi.org/10.1108/JFP-05-2015-0032
Filipas, H. H., & Ullman, S. E. (2001). Social reactions to victims of sexual assault from social
network members. Violence and Victims, 16, 673-692.
Haythornthwaite, C. (2002). Strong, weak, and latent ties and the impact of new media. The
Information Society, 18, 385-401.
House, J.S. (1981). Work stress and social support. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley.
House, J. S., Landis, K. R., & Umberson, D. (1988). Social relationships and health.
Science, 241, 540-545. Retrieved from http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0036-8075%2819880729%293%3A241 %3A4865%3C540%3ASRAH%3E2.0.CO%3B2-2.
Johnson, C.A., & Hawbaker, K.T. (2018, July 20). #MeToo: A timeline of events. Chicago
Tribune. http://www.chicagotribune.com/lifestyles/ct-me-too-timeline-20171208-htmlstory.html
Kim, H. Enacted social support on social media and subjective well-being. International Journal
of Communication, 8, 2340-2342.
Lokot, T. (2018). #IAmNotAfraidToSayIt: Stories of sexual violence as everyday political
speech on Facebook. Communication & Society, 21, 802-817, doi.org/10.1080/1369118X.2018.1430161
Mason, G. E., Ullman, S., Long, S. E., Long, L., & Starzynski, L. (2009). Social support and the
risk of sexual assault revictimization. Journal of Community Psychology, 37, 58-72. doi.org/10.1002/jcop.20270
Moors, R., & Webber, R. (2012). The dance of disclosure: online self-disclosure of
sexual assault. Qualitative Social Work, 12, 799-815.
doi.org/10.1177/1473325012464383
National Intimate Partner and Exual Violence Survey. (2012). Findings from the National
Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey. Retrieved from https://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/pdf/NISVS-StateReportFactsheet.pdf.
O’Neill, T. (2018). ‘Today I speak’: Exploring how victim-survivors use Reddit. International
Journal for Crime, Justice and Social Democracy, 7, doi.org/10.5204/ijcjsd.v7i1.402
Rains, S. A., Peterson, E. B., & Wright, K. B. (2015). Communicating social support in
computer-mediated contexts: A meta-analytic review of content analyses examining support messages shared online among individuals coping with illness. Communication Monographs, 82,403-430. doi 10.1080/03637751.2015.1019530.
Rains, S. A., & Wright, K. B. (2016). Social support and computer-mediated-communication: A
state-of-the-art review and agenda for future research. Communication Yearbook, 40, 175-211. doi.org/10.1177/1473325012464383
Rentschler, C. (2017). Rape culture and the feminist politics of social media. Girlhood studies, 7,
65-82. doi.org/10.3167/ghs.2014.070106
Rui, J. R., Chen, Y, & Damiano, A. (2013). Health organizations providing and seeking social
support: A Twitter-based content analysis. Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking,16, 669-673. doi: 10.1089/cyber.2012.035
Sayej, N. (Dec., 2017). “Alyssa Milano on the #metoo movement: ‘We’re not going to stand for
it anymore.” The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2017/dec/01/alyssa-milano-mee-too-sexual-harassment-abuse.
Sills, S., Pickens, C., Beach, K., Jones, L., Calder-Dawe, O., Benton-Greig, P., Gavey, N. (2016).
Rape culture and social media: young critics and a feminist counterpublic. Feminist Media Studies,16, 1-17. doi.org/10.1080/14680777.2015.1137962
Smith, L. (2010). Does posting in an online community encourage young people to disclose
sexual assault or abuse? Retrieved from https://www.secasa.com.au/assets/Documents/does-posting-in-an-online-community-encourage-young-people-to-disclose.pdf
Starzynski, L. L., Ullman, Se. E., Filipas, H. H., & Townsend, S. M. (2005). Correlates of
women’s sexual assault disclosure to informal and formal support sources. Violence and Victims, 20, 415-431.doi.org/10.1891/vivi.2005.20.4.417
Tanis, M. (2008). What makes the Internet a place to seek social support. In E. A. Konijin, S.
Utz, M.Tanis, & S. B. Barnes (Eds.), Mediated interpersonal communication (pp. 290-308). New York NY: Routledge.
Trepte, S., Dienlin, T. & Reinecke, L. (2015). Influence of social support received in online and
offline contexts on satisfaction with social support and satisfaction with life: A longitudinal study. Media Psychology, 18, 74-105. https://doi.org/10.1080/15213269.2013.838904.
Ullman, S. E., & Peter-Hagene, L. (2014). Social reactions to sexual assault disclosure, coping,
perceived control, and PTSD symptoms in sexual assault victims. Journal of Community, 42, 495-508. doi.org/10.1002/jcop.21624
Valenzuela, S., Correa, T., & Gil de Zúñiga, H. (2018). Ties, likes, and tweets: Using strong and
weak ties to explain differences in protest participation across facebook and twitter use. Political Communication, 35(1), 117-134.
Walther, J. B., & Boyd, S. (2002). Attraction to computer-mediated social support. In C. A. Lin
& D. Atkin (Eds.), Communication technology and society: Audience adoption and uses (pp 153-188). Cresskill, NJ: Hampton Press.
Webber, R. (2014). Sexual assault in relationships: Seeking help on a Q&A website. Australian
Social Work, 67, 363-376. doi.org/10.1080/0312407X.2013.834065
Webber, R., & Wilmot, J. (2012). Social media and help seeking by young people on sexual
assault. Retrieved from https://adf.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/401_SocialMediaandHelpSeekingbyYoungPeopleonSexualAssault_SomazoneReport_2012.pdf
Wills, T. A. (1991) Social support and interpersonal relationships. In M. S. Clark (Ed.), Review
of personality and social psychology, Vol. 12: Prosocial behavior (pp. 265-289). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Wright, K. (2016). Social networks, interpersonal social support, and health outcomes: A health
communication perspective. Frontiers in Communication,1, 1-6. doi: 10.3389/fcomm.2016.00010.
Wright K. B., & Miller, C.H. (2010). A measure of weak tie/strong tie support network
preference: Theoretical rational, development, and validation of the W/STNP scale. Communication Monographs, 77, 502-520. https://doi.org/10.1080/03637751.2010.502538.
Wright, K. B., & Rains, S. A. (2013). Weak-tie support network preference, health-related
stigma, and health outcomes in computer-mediated support groups. Journal of Applied Communication Research, 41, 309-324. https://doi.org/10.1080/00909882.2013.792435.
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