Over the past few decades, various types of hate material have caused increasing concern. Today, the scope of hate is wider than ever, as easy and often-anonymous access to an enormous amount of ...online content has opened the Internet up to both use and abuse. By providing possibilities for inexpensive and instantaneous access without ties to geographic location or a user identification system, the Internet has permitted hate groups and individuals espousing hate to transmit their ideas to a worldwide audience. Online Hate and Harmful Content focuses on the role of potentially harmful online content, particularly among young people. This focus is explored through two approaches: firstly, the commonality of online hate through cross-national survey statistics. This includes a discussion of the various implications of online hate for young people in terms of, for example, subjective wellbeing, trust, self-image and social relationships. Secondly, the book examines theoretical frameworks from the fields of sociology, social psychology and criminology that are useful for understanding online behaviour and online victimisation. Limitations of past theory are assessed and complemented with a novel theoretical model linking past work to the online environment as it exists today. An important and timely volume in this ever-changing digital age, this book is suitable for graduates and undergraduates interested in the fields of Internet and new media studies, social psychology and criminology. The analyses and findings of the book are also particularly relevant to practitioners and policy-makers working in the areas of Internet regulation, crime prevention, child protection and social work/youth work.
This study examined the commonality of exposure to sites that advocate eating disorders, self-injury and suicide among American, British, German and Finnish respondents (N = 3565) aged 15–30 (age M = ...23.06, 50.15% male). The analysis focused on both cross-national and socio-demographic differences and on user characteristic including happiness, previous online and offline victimization and online user activity. German respondents had significantly lower levels of exposure to harm-advocating online content than respondents in the three other countries. Females were more likely to be exposed to eating disorder content, while males witnessed more self-injury and suicide content across all four countries. Younger respondents were more likely to be exposed to such material. In addition, other socio-demographic background variables (not living with parents, immigrant background, city residence, online activity) and personal characteristics associated with negative self-schemata were significant predictors of exposure to such content. The findings indicate that those facing difficulties in their everyday life are at higher risk of accessing online sites that may foster unhealthy behavior.
In this article, we examine the correlates of fear of violence in the cross-media landscape. The study draws on the Finnish National Crime Victim Survey (n = 6,141, respondents aged 15–74 years). ...First, we examine from what information and media sources respondents receive information on violent crime. We then examine how consumption of different types of media and information sources on violent crime associates with the contemporary experience of fear of street violence, avoidance behavior due to threat of violence, and perceived threat of terrorism to oneself. We also examine whether this association remains when age, gender, education, past victimization, and economic strain are adjusted for.
This study examines the prevalence of different types of cybercrime victimisation and their shared risk factors among the population of Finland. We examine how respondents’ socio-economic background ...variables, past offline victimisation experiences, online activity, user skills, and protective measures impact the risk of the most common forms of online victimisation and online polyvictimisation. Our nationally representative survey data were collected from 5455 Finns aged 15 to 74 years (response rate 39%) as part of the Finnish National Crime Survey in 2018. According to our findings, the five most common forms of victimisation were malware, harassment, sexual harassment, hacking, and fraud. Online routines and exposure to potential offenders, along with past offline victimisation experiences, served as notable risk factors for a range of different victimisation experiences online. Our findings show slightly different SES risk factors for victimisation of different online offences, thereby indicating the diverse nature of different types of online victimisation. Our findings also show that young age, better financial situation, high internet use, and user skills, along with past offline victimisation of property crime and violence, associate with increased risk of online polyvictimisation. High user protection decreased the risk of online polyvictimisation.
Pro-anorexia communities exist online and encourage harmful weight loss and weight control practices, often through emotional content that enforces social ties within these communities. ...User-generated responses to videos that directly oppose pro-anorexia communities have not yet been researched in depth.
The aim was to study emotional reactions to pro-anorexia and anti-pro-anorexia online content on YouTube using sentiment analysis.
Using the 50 most popular YouTube pro-anorexia and anti-pro-anorexia user channels as a starting point, we gathered data on users, their videos, and their commentators. A total of 395 anorexia videos and 12,161 comments were analyzed using positive and negative sentiments and ratings submitted by the viewers of the videos. The emotional information was automatically extracted with an automatic sentiment detection tool whose reliability was tested with human coders. Ordinary least squares regression models were used to estimate the strength of sentiments. The models controlled for the number of video views and comments, number of months the video had been on YouTube, duration of the video, uploader's activity as a video commentator, and uploader's physical location by country.
The 395 videos had more than 6 million views and comments by almost 8000 users. Anti-pro-anorexia video comments expressed more positive sentiments on a scale of 1 to 5 (adjusted prediction AP 2.15, 95% CI 2.11-2.19) than did those of pro-anorexia videos (AP 2.02, 95% CI 1.98-2.06). Anti-pro-anorexia videos also received more likes (AP 181.02, 95% CI 155.19-206.85) than pro-anorexia videos (AP 31.22, 95% CI 31.22-37.81). Negative sentiments and video dislikes were equally distributed in responses to both pro-anorexia and anti-pro-anorexia videos.
Despite pro-anorexia content being widespread on YouTube, videos promoting help for anorexia and opposing the pro-anorexia community were more popular, gaining more positive feedback and comments than pro-anorexia videos. Thus, the anti-pro-anorexia content provided a user-generated counterforce against pro-anorexia content on YouTube. Professionals working with young people should be aware of the social media dynamics and versatility of user-generated eating disorder content online.
Drawing from routine activity theory (RAT), this article seeks to determine the crucial factors contributing to youth victimization through online hate. Although numerous studies have supported RAT ...in an online context, research focusing on users of particular forms of social media is lacking. Using a sample of 15- to 18-year-old Finnish Facebook users (n = 723), we examine whether the risk of online hate victimization is more likely when youth themselves produced online hate material, visited online sites containing potentially harmful content, and deliberately sought out online hate material. In addition, we examine whether the risk of victimization is higher if respondents are worried about online victimization and had been personally victimized offline. The discussion highlights the accumulation of online and offline victimization, the ambiguity of the roles of victims and perpetrators, and the artificiality of the division between the online and offline environments among young people.
Changing Media Preferences? Näsi, Matti; Räsänen, Pekka
Nordicom review,
11/2013, Volume:
34, Issue:
2
Journal Article
Peer reviewed
Open access
As the Internet provides extensive sources of information and entertainment platforms, traditional forms of media have come under scrutiny ever since the early days of the information and ...communication technologies (ICTs). In the present article, we examine how media preferences in Finland have changed over the past ten years by focusing on the perceived importance of television, newspapers and the Internet. We use three sets of nationally representative survey data from 1999, 2004 and 2009, respectively, to establish a comparative view of the preferences during this time. Our findings indicate that even though the perceived importance of the Internet has increased during the past ten years, media preferences in general have not changed radically. In addition, we are able to witness clear variations between socio-demographic groups across all points in time. Some of these variations have weakened over time, but not all of them. Broader implications for a changing media landscape are discussed in relation to the results.
•Cross-national survey study on the association between online harassment and exposure to harmful online content.•Being a victim of online harassment has a statistically significant association with ...exposure to harmful online content.•In particular, viewing websites relating to eating disorders and how to be thin were significant in both US and Finland.•Existing offline societal differences appear to be diminishing in the online context.
The key focus in this article study is to examine the association between online harassment and exposure to websites related to self-harm or negative self-image, along with several other independent variables. Our data were collected from two countries, the U.S. and Finland, thus providing a chance for a cross-national comparison regarding these associations. According to the results, significant association between online harassment and most notably exposure to websites relating to eating disorders was found. Furthermore, subjective wellbeing (SWB), age and gender were significantly associated with online harassment. There were only minor differences between U.S. and Finland, indicating certain levels of cultural homogenization regarding the online space.
The growing role of Internet in all aspects of everyday life has led to speculations over the impacts beyond the traditional questions of access or sociability. This in mind, the main focus in this ...article was to examine how Finns, for majority of whom Internet use has become commonplace activity, perceive the impacts of Internet use since first adopting the technology. In this study, we examine how Internet user history and perceived computer skills, along with different sociodemographic factors, appear to reflect on the perceived impacts of Internet adoption in terms of memory and ability to concentrate. According to the results, almost one in five of the respondents reported changes concerning their memory or ability to concentrate, with skilled computer users and nonworkers, in particular, perceiving the change. Factors such as age-related differences and exposure to potential information overload at work were identified to explain the perceived change. Our data were collected in a survey-gathering information on the everyday life and well-being of Finns. The sample consisted of 2000 Finnish speakers aged 15 to 64 years. The response rate was 46 percent (N=908).
This study examined the feasibility of routine activity theory in predicting online harassment victimization of people aged 15 to 30 years in the USA, Finland, Germany, and the UK. Logistic ...regression models controlled for socio-demographic factors, exposure to offender, target suitability, and absence of guardianship. According to the results, between 15 percent and 20 percent of respondents reported having been victims of online harassment. Of routine activity theory variables tested, only exposure to offenders was statistically significant in each of the four countries. Females were more likely to be victims than males in Finland, but not in other countries. Those with an immigrant background had a higher likelihood of being victims in Germany, but not in the other countries, whereas the protective role of guardianship was supported in the USA and Germany. Our findings indicate that while routine activity theory is a useful tool for predicting online victimization, its feasibility varied across countries.
PDF
