Disclaimer: themes of sexual assault and harassment.

Introduction

Media platforms have become much more than a space for users to merely share and consume content. Social media platforms such as Instagram, TikTok and X, formally known as twitter, have become a virtual meeting ground for online communities and networks to form. The interactions that occur in online communities and networks range in weight, meaning that the discussions may hold high significance to the user, or be as unimportant as a forgotten comment. While social media users control how they interact with communities and content, a large majority of individuals have moved towards using media as a platform for social activism and political protest. Many conversations held on the internet contain a political aspect, sometimes without intention, simply commenting an opinion online can cause a controversial uproar, and the content that is put out has the potential to reach a wide range of audiences. Using the seemingly endless pool of user reach to gain social awareness has been taken advantage of by sexual assault activists. This article will discuss how victims of sexual assault have utilised Twitter, TikTok and Instagram to form online networks and communities with the purpose of raising awareness and support for the fight against sexual violence and harassment.

Social media as a host for online communities and networks

The development of the internet has had immense impacts on social culture, virtual communication has taken up a large portion of social interaction that prior to digitisation, face-to-face communication would have governed (Delanty, 2018). The ideal of virtual communication has created a heightened accessibility to communication as a whole, allowing online participants to interact with one another whenever and wherever. Online interactions between individuals in a digital space can be categorised into two forms of exchange, one being through online networks, and the other being through online communities. Online networks support communication between individuals who most likely already interact with each other, often online networks consist of user interactions between family and friends (Delanty, 2018). Contradictory to the functions of online networks, online communities are networks of unaccustomed connections, often with the purpose of providing support, information, and a sense of belonging (Delanty, 2018). Delanty (2018) claims that virtual communities have introduced a new form of social belonging that enables users to converse with people and topics that prior to online communities, would not have been possible. digital activism can be supported by both online networks and communities, however, regarding sexual harassment, people often seek online support from other individuals with similar views and experiences, leading people to look outside of their online networks and seek online communities instead (James-Hawkins & Róisín Ryan-Flood, 2023, pp. 265–278).  

TikTok, Instagram and Twitter serve as platforms for social change

The development of Web 2.0 introduced collaborative media, this technological advancement prompted a shift in user interaction. Prior to Web 2.0, users were restricted to mealy observing media, this shift allowed users to participate and engage with it (O’Reilly, 2005). The shift from viewed media to interactive media promoted the shift from ‘media’ to ‘social media’. Social media consists of endless streams of users and content coming together simultaneously to create networked publics and communities. While virtual networks and communities can be formed across all social platforms, TikTok has quickly become one of the more popular forums, becoming the “hottest app of 2021” followed by the most downloaded platform of 2022 (Lee and Abidin, 2023). Despite TikTok’s fast growth, both Instagram and Twitter have solidified their position with users, remaining a standard application amongst many social media users (Rozgonjuk et al., 2020). Twitter, Instagram and TikTok are platforms that users interact with in a cohesive nature, meaning that users can shift between the three applications’ effortlessly, with content-sharing technologies, the platforms hold a lot of like-minded themes (Rozgonjuk et al., 2020). Social media’s success has subsequently transformed the practices associated with social activism, this is a result of the platform’s reliance on user engagement, meaning that in order to utilize the application you are required to participate with it. (Lee and Abidin, 2023). Through social media’s dependence on participatory-based interaction, users have high levels of engagement with a diverse range of themes, despite the surge of topics and trends, a pull towards political and social activism has seen users engaging with a high level of content that promotes social change, these movements include climate change, anti-racism, and gender equality movements (Lee and Abidin, 2023). While social change has relied heavily on media since its earliest form of press, it cannot be argued that the development of social media platforms has not transformed the effect activism has on society (Papacharissi & Trevey, 2018).

The #metoo movement’s adaptation of social media inspires social change

Since 2006, the expression ‘me too’ has been used to empower and support survivors of sexual assault, however, it wasn’t until 2017 that the movement gained substantial traction (Hosterman et al., 2018). The traction received in 2017 was a counter effect of a tweet made by actor Alyssa Milano That read “If you’ve been sexually harassed or assaulted write ‘me too’ as a reply to this tweet.”, the following day the post had become a trending topic on Twitter, gaining over 55,000 comments (Hosterman et al., 2018). within 24 hours the post grew to have more than 12 million responses (Corbett, 2023). The ‘Me Too’ movement oversaw multiple platforms, however, given the period, Twitter was responsible for creating an arguably stronger network of communities (Hosterman et al., 2018). While the large user engagement drew attention to how prominent the issue of sexual assault is, it also created a community of publics who connected with one another based on their shared experiences. The social media aspect of activism in reference to the # MeToo movement allowed more people to participate in the movement as it was able to reach a much larger audience compared to local activism (Hosterman et al., 2018). With more users engaging with the movement, Brown and Battle (2019) suggest that the attention drawn to the issue lessened the stigma surrounding sexual assault and harassment, this ideal fostered a deep online community, online communities where not only offering emotional support but also actively defending the victims’ by applying external pressure on the harasser (in the advent an individual or organisation was named and shamed (Brown and Battle, 2019). Through the rich online engagement between users, the ‘Me Too’ movement was found to have lessened the sense of isolation for victims of sexual assault and harassment (Brown and Battle, 2019). The lessened sense of community support empowered victims to continue reporting abuse, holding hundreds of offenders accountable. As of 2023, the ‘Me Too’ movement is still pushing for social change. Corbett (2023) states that the fight against sexual assault and harassment cannot be won in a day, the fight has been consistent throughout generations, however, the ‘Me Too’ movement was critical to the acceleration of social change related to sexual assault.

The ‘Me Too’ movement has had an unmeasurable impact on both sexual assault victims and offenders. As a result of the overwhelming engagement with the ‘Me Too’ movement, the Times Up Legal Defence Fund was launched, this fund acted as a support net for victims by shifting the power from the offender to the victim through legal resources, over 5000 people reached out seeking legal support through the fund (Corbett 2023). The ‘Me Too’ movement was also responsible for prompting legislative change to matters associated with sexual assault and harassment, Corbett (2023) states that more than 80 anti-harassment bills have been passed. Altimetry social media platforms made the success of the ‘Me Too’ movement possible, in doing so, extensive awareness and a rich online community was created. The community formed around the movement showed survivors that through a collective protest, a real chance at social change can be had.  

Chanel Cantos’ use of social media to advocate for sexual assault education results in both political and social change

Chanel Cantos is a young Australian woman who has become an activist for sexual assault and education through her online presence. In February of 2021, Cantos utilised her Instagram platform to query her online network on their experience with sexual assaults. Cantos created a pole that consisted of a ‘yes’ and ‘no’ response to whether her followers had been sexually assaulted in school or soon after, and if not, did they know anyone who had been (James-Hawkins & Róisín Ryan-Flood, 2023, pp. 265–278). Cantos’ approach to using social media as a mediator to request public response is similar to Alyssa Milano’s use of Twitter to do the same with the ‘Me Too’ movement. Like the ‘me too’ movement, cantos’ post generated a substantial response. Within 24 hours the post had gathered over 200 ‘yes’ responses, as a result of the feedback cantos launched an e-petition that created a space for anonymised testimonials of sexual assault (Cantos, n.d.a). Once again canto’s use of media generated a sizeable response, with over 45,000 signatures and 6,500 testimonials (James-Hawkins & Róisín Ryan-Flood, 2023, pp. 265–278). As well as Instagram, channel cantos utilised TikTok, cantos’ use of short storytelling to interact with users fostered both a personal and political connection to the cause (Cantos, n.d.b). Cantos has used both platforms to encourage her networks and communities to speak out for social change to happen, while also, similarly to the ‘me too’ movement, creating online communities. James-Hawkins and Róisín Ryan-Flood (2023, pp. 265–278) state that cantos’ use of Instagram was crucial to the success of the movement, furthering this statement by suggesting that Instagram has become commonly used for community activism as the platform has a high level of reach. Cantos’ use of Instagram combined with the movement’s acquired reach has created a community through the use of hashtags combined with user engagement through public declarations of sexual assault (James-Hawkins and Róisín Ryan-Flood 2023, pp. 265–278). The large community that Cantos has fostered has prompted social change through the mandating of consent in two states in Australia and the criminalisation of stealthing, a phrase that refers to removing contraception un-consensually during sex (Cantos, n.d.a). while the legislative modifications have made immense impacts for thousands of Australians, the education cantos provide has made even more so. cantos (n.d.a) argues that the majority of young Australians don’t understand sexual assault, meaning that they aren’t aware of when it is happening or if they’ve done it. Through cantos’ (n.d.a) activism more young Australians are aware of sexual assault and harassment, resulting in individuals being less likely to perform it. The combined outcomes of Cantos’ digital movement have had significant impacts and intern caused social change. 

Conclusion 

The utilisation of social media platforms to participate with activistic initiatives has caused constructive social change. Through the use of social media, individuals have been able to come together to create online communities with shared interests, as a collective group of mass amounts of users, the movement is given a much stronger chance of resulting in social change. both the ‘Me Too’ movement and Chanel Cantos’ success in altering the reality of sexual assault and harassment were made possible by user engagement, which without online communities would have had a much lesser effect on society. The social support provided through both online communities encouraged victims of sexual assault to come forward with their stories, the bravery of these individuals helped lessen the stigma associated with sexual assault, this public online act of bravery continues to cause change as victims’ voices get louder, more people become aware of the need for change.

 

 

 

Reference list

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