Cited by 200Privacy, Security, and Data ProtectionSexual Assault and Victimization StudiesMental Health via Writing

Social Support, Reciprocity, and Anonymity in Responses to Sexual Abuse Disclosures on Social Media

Open access
Andalibi, Nazanin, Haimson, Oliver L., Choudhury, Munmun De, Forte, Andrea·2018·ACM Transactions on Computer-Human Interaction

Abstract

Seeking and providing support is challenging. When people disclose sensitive information, audience responses can substantially impact the discloser's wellbeing. We use mixed methods to understand responses to online sexual abuse-related disclosures on Reddit. We characterize disclosure responses, then investigate relationships between post content, comment content, and anonymity. We illustrate what types of support sought and provided in posts and comments co-occur. We find that posts seeking support receive more comments, and comments from “throwaway” (i.e., anonymous) accounts are more likely on posts also from throwaway accounts. Anonymous commenting enables commenters to share intimate content such as reciprocal disclosures and supportive messages, and commenter anonymity is not associated with aggressive or unsupportive comments. We argue that anonymity is an essential factor in designing social technologies that facilitate support seeking and provision in socially stigmatized contexts, and provide implications for social media site design. CAUTION: This article includes content about sexual abuse.

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  • Andalibi et al found that emotional and informational support can co-occur with other forms of support.

    “Andalibi et al [66] found that these two kinds of support can co-occur with other forms of support, such as posts seeking ES often seeking esteem and network support, and Attai et al [68] noted that Twitter is effective in seeking and providing health-related informational needs, contextually related with our problem of interest.”
  • Emotional and informational support have been found to be most prevalent and effective in several studies of online support and social media.

    “These two forms of support have been found to be most prevalent and effective in several studies of online support and social media [38,62,66,67].”

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Research works printed but not linked: 3

  1. Nazanin Andalibi and Andrea Forte. 2016. Social computing researchers, vulnerability, and peer support. In Proceed- ings of Position Paper at the CHI 2016 Ethical Encounters in HCI: Research in Sensitive and Complex Settings Workshop. Retrieved from https://docs.wixstatic.com/ugd/63b293_58d50f16dde0497fa4793fde6e9540e8.pdf.
  2. Brant R. Burleson, Erina L. MacGeorge, M. L. Knapp, and J. A. Daly. 2002. Supportive communication. Handbook of Interpersonal Communication 3 (2002), 374-424.
  3. Adam N. Joinson and Carina B. Paine. 2007. Self-disclosure, privacy and the Internet. In The Oxford Handbook of Internet Psychology. Oxford University Press

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Authors
Andalibi, N., Haimson, O. L., Choudhury, M. D., & Forte, A.
Affiliations
  • Drexel University (US)
  • University of California, Irvine (US)
  • Georgia Institute of Technology (US)
Venue
ACM Transactions on Computer-Human Interaction
Published
2018-10
Volume
25
Issue
5
Pages
1-35
ISSN
  • 1073-0516 (ISSN-L)
  • 1557-7325
OpenAlex
W2894631352
Cited by
200
References
108
Citations by year
2026: 25 · 2025: 32 · 2024: 29 · 2023: 29 · 2022: 25 · 2021: 30 · 2020: 22 · 2019: 6 · 2018: 2
FWCI
34.14
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
ACM Transactions on Computer-Human Interaction (publishedVersion)
Funders
National Science Foundation (1253302)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Privacy, Security, and Data Protection
  • Social Sciences › Gender Studies › Sexual Assault and Victimization Studies
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Mental Health via Writing
Keywords
sexual abuse, disclosure, social support, reciprocity, anonymity, Reddit, social media comments

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