{"id":219700,"date":"2022-11-29T16:10:54","date_gmt":"2022-11-29T21:10:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/newscenter\/?p=219700"},"modified":"2022-12-02T10:13:05","modified_gmt":"2022-12-02T15:13:05","slug":"study-use-of-groomer-hate-speech-increased-on-twitter-after-colorado-springs-nightclub-shooting","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/newscenter\/2022\/11\/29\/study-use-of-groomer-hate-speech-increased-on-twitter-after-colorado-springs-nightclub-shooting\/","title":{"rendered":"Study: Use of \u2018Groomer\u2019 Hate Speech Increased on Twitter After Colorado Springs Nightclub Shooting"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/school-of-communication-and-media\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2022\/11\/Montclair-State-Study-Post-Amnesty-Twitter-Outlook-and-Spike-in-Grooming-Terms.pdf\">A new study<\/a> by the Joetta Di Bella and Fred C. Sautter III Center for Strategic Communication in the School of Communication and Media at 精品成人福利在线 University points to what hate speech on Twitter could look like following Elon Musk\u2019s offer of \u201cgeneral amnesty\u201d to suspended accounts on the platform.<\/p>\n<p>Specifically, the study showed a dramatic spike in the use of the term \u201cgrooming\u201d (a slur used against the LGBTQ+ community) on Twitter in the period after the shooting at an LGBTQ+ nightclub in Colorado Springs, Colorado, on November 19-20. <em>(See key findings below)<\/em>.<\/p>\n<h2>How \u2018groomer\u2019 is misused as an anti-LGBTQ slur<\/h2>\n<p>&#8220;Grooming,&#8221; as defined by the Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network (RAINN), is &#8220;manipulative behaviors that the abuser uses to gain access to a potential victim, coerce them to agree to the abuse, and reduce the risk of being caught.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Historically, it\u2019s been used as a dehumanizing slur to target, criminalize and ostracize the marginalized LGBTQIA+ community through the construction of fictional predators harming youth. Two contemporary events \u2013 the QAnon conspiracy and the discourse surrounding Florida\u2019s &#8220;Parental Rights in Education&#8221; bill (popularly known as \u201cDon\u2019t Say Gay\u201d) \u2013 echo this messaging.<\/p>\n<p>As the danger of the term was more understood, social media platforms began to limit its use, including restrictions on Twitter which banned the use when directed at trans and non-binary people as an anti-LGBTQ+ slur. However, when Elon Musk took over as CEO of the platform, promising a reduction in \u201cwoke\u201d restrictions on expression, users on the site anticipated a reduction in these sorts of constraints and an opportunity to more openly share hate content.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Highlights from the study on the use of the term \u201cgrooming\u201d on Twitter:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>112,140 tweets used the term \u201cgrooming\u201d or \u201cgroomer\u201d in the seven-day period around the attack in Colorado Springs.<\/li>\n<li>The spike in usage of the term \u201cgrooming\u201d or \u201cgroomer\u201d peaked after the attack with an increase of 885% over the highest point prior to the shooting.<\/li>\n<li>Potential impact for the \u201cgroomer\u201d tweets studied was 599,575,603 with a potential reach of 390,207,542.<\/li>\n<li>Content gaining traction in terms of impact and reach included messages rationalizing physical violence in connection with this slur.<\/li>\n<li>Opposing content also gained a large share of voice, with many accounts and tweets opposing the slur attaining significant platform presence.<\/li>\n<li>There was greater negative sentiment toward use of the term \u201cgroomer\u201d than positive sentiment, as negative sentiment toward the term was 27.6% while positive sentiment was only 9.8% in the tweets analyzed in this study.<\/li>\n<li>Key influencers on discussions surrounding the topic reveal a range of figures who reinforced linkages between the LGBTQIA+ community and \u201cgrooming.\u201d These included accounts of those such as Marjorie Taylor Greene, Blaire White, Tim Pool, Matt Walsh and Jack Posobiec.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The data collected demonstrates the tensions that Twitter will navigate between content restriction and platform openness.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe all understand the importance of freedom of speech, but there are dangers to running platforms like Twitter as a \u2018free speech absolutist,\u2019\u201d said <a href=\"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/newscenter\/experts\/dr-bond-benton\/\">Bond Benton<\/a>, associate professor in the School of Communication and Media. \u201cIt is troubling that every time there is a hate-fueled crime, those with extreme views may remain unchecked and will and have a place to spread hate speech and associated terms that demonstrate a lack of common sense, decency and compassion.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/school-of-communication-and-media\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2022\/11\/Montclair-State-Study-Post-Amnesty-Twitter-Outlook-and-Spike-in-Grooming-Terms.pdf\">The Montclair study<\/a> was conducted by faculty Bond Benton, Yi Lu, Jin-A Choi, Keith Strudler and Keith Green from the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/school-of-communication-and-media\/stratcomm\/\">Joetta Di Bella and Fred C. Sautter III Center for Strategic Communication<\/a>, which provides social media analytics tools and training for faculty and students for classroom learning and research projects.<\/p>\n<p>For more information or to set up an interview, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/newscenter\/contact-media-relations\/\">contact the Media Relations team at 精品成人福利在线 University<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<script type=\"text\/javascript\">\n\/\/ Output tags as a list for Google Analytics custom dimension\nwindow.MSU_TagList = [\"Research Scholarship and Creative Activity\"];\n<\/script>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Findings points to impact of CEO Musk\u2019s \u2018general amnesty\u2019 on the social media platform<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":270,"featured_media":219701,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,7,111],"tags":[446],"class_list":["post-219700","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-communication-and-media","category-press-releases","category-research","tag-research-scholarship-and-creative-activity"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/newscenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/219700","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/newscenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/newscenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/newscenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/270"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/newscenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=219700"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/newscenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/219700\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":219721,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/newscenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/219700\/revisions\/219721"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/newscenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/219701"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/newscenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=219700"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/newscenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=219700"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/newscenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=219700"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}