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Digital Intimate Publics and Social Media pp 29–43Cite as

Palgrave Macmillan

Publicising Privacy, Weaponising Publicity: The Dialectic of Online Abuse on Social Media

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Part of the book series: Palgrave Studies in Communication for Social Change ((PSCSC))

Abstract

Salter uses dialectical theory to examine the contradictions between online ‘publics’ and privacy. The chapter argues that online abuse and harassment are products of the evident tension between the encouragement of online intimacy by social media platforms on one hand, and the commodification and exploitation of user data on the other. In patterns of online abuse and harassment, private life becomes ‘public’ in unwanted ways via technology that is designed for instantaneous circulation and exposure. A dialectic analysis suggests that the availability of social media for misogynist abuse is no coincidence, and demonstrates how technology reproduces social and material inequalities.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Western Sydney University, Penrith, NSW, Australia

    Michael Salter

Authors
  1. Michael Salter
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Correspondence to Michael Salter .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Curtin University, Bentley, WA, Australia

    Amy Shields Dobson

  2. Monash University, Melbourne, VIC, Australia

    Brady Robards

  3. School of Communication and Arts, University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD, Australia

    Nicholas Carah

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Salter, M. (2018). Publicising Privacy, Weaponising Publicity: The Dialectic of Online Abuse on Social Media. In: Dobson, A.S., Robards, B., Carah, N. (eds) Digital Intimate Publics and Social Media. Palgrave Studies in Communication for Social Change. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-97607-5_2

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