Female Participation and Male Violence: Conceptualising Women's Experiences on Social Media Platforms

Feminist activism is becoming increasingly synonymous with the use of social media platforms, with some research now claiming that online feminism constitutes a fourth wave of the movement. Yet while some scholars suggest that the absence of traditional gatekeepers on forums such as Twitter and Facebook indicates that historically marginalised groups could exert greater social and political influence in this environment, recent episodes detailing the aggressive harassment of women online reveal another side to the story. This paper will suggest that, rather than allowing women to exert greater influence via feminist activist practices, social media technologies have instead provided new opportunities for male violence against women. At this time there is little scholarship which critically analyses the adoption of social media technologies by women for feminism activism. This paper will raise some questions about the dominant academic conceptualisations of female use of social media technologies: given the increased opportunities social media has provided men with, I suggest that it is becoming increasingly necessary to consider whether this technology has been good for feminism.