Politicians' gendered participation in online political hostility
We welcome all to this seminar where Sandra Håkansson, associate senior lecturer/ assistant professor at the Department of Government at Uppsala University, will present results from a survey experiment in the Norwegian Panel of Politicians.
Håkansson is presenting a study on Norwegian politicians' gendered participation in online political hostility.
Light lunch will be served, as first come, first served.
The event is hybrid, if you can not join us in the Corner room at Sofie Lindstrøms hus, you can join us digitally (external link).
Abstract:
Violent rhetoric is increasingly widespread in political discussions online. While several studies conclude that politicians who are visible and active on social media experience more online harassment, little is known about politicians’ own involvement in online hostility and how this varies by gender. Our study examines which politicians are more prone to engage in online political hostility, and under what circumstances. Building on theories on gender and political violence, we propose that men politicians are more inclined to participate in online political hostility than women, and particularly in response to aggressive comments directed at them. Our survey experiment with Norwegian politicians shows that men are more likely than women to respond to online hostility with escalation strategies, but the degree of aggressiveness in other social media users’ posts does not affect the degree of aggressiveness in politicians’ responses. Our study highlights that women and men politicians are positioned differently in relation to the pressing problem of online hostility. Whereas women politicians are at the receiving end of hate-based attacks, men are more active contributors to a hostile discussion climate.