Social Media Victimization: Theories and Impacts of Cyberpunishment

The public has always appreciated communication technology for its ability to bring people together but every week we read more and more stories of someone who commits suicide, gets fired, gets canceled , abandoned, or worse, because of a conflict or misunderstanding involving social media. By examining the technological shortcomings of online media platforms as well as the inhumane speed of information travel, Emami emphasizes that the technology itself is implicated in the current environment of ubiquitous conflict and the pursuit of punishing others online. Using theories that originated in studies of extremism and terrorism, Jessica Emami analyzes the processes that drive people to punish others using social media. Emami demonstrates that cyberpunishment is driven by outrage against our personal sense of morality, and a deep desire for our act of punishment to be acknowledged by others. This attitude is maximized on today’s social media platforms which are, by their very structure, unable to curb or resist cyberpunishment. This book would be of interest to scholars and students in sociology, criminology, and media studies.