Whores, idiots and sub-humans: A study of the of hate directed at reality profiles and influencers on Flashback in 2020

Abstract

Hate speech, hateful messages, slander, and other disparaging expression have not been part of the public debate or dialogue but is more apparent on the internet and the online world. A group that has been exposed to a great deal of vitriol on media platforms are influencer and reality profiles. Nevertheless, they are neglected in the research of hostility against public persons. Therefore, this study aimed to examine the hate expressed in the descriptions of reality profiles and influencers, understand what enables users to express hatred, and examine how content differs when directed at men and women. This thesis is based on a single case study of Flashback.se and conducted through content analysis. By investigating 2400 posts in four different discussion threads, the result shows a great coherence with previous research and presents new findings. The findings show that there were 610 statements identified as hateful and coded within eight different categories, representing 365 hateful statements targeting women and 210 hateful statements directed towards men, and 35 against them as a group. The conclusion of the study is that the content is very hostile and hateful, where men are more target to a wider range of hatred due to personal attributes of who they are, and women are primarily exposed to hatred due to how they look, together with sexual harassments. Additionally, in some cases, women are targeted as a group, and the hate against females reflects the social gender norms, misogyny, and gender-based violence in the real world.