Managing online harassment - public figure’s perception of online social support

Abstract

Online harassment against public figures is a widespread problem today. Nevertheless, few studies have examined what can be done to improve their situation. This study aims to contribute new valuable knowledge to the relatively unexplored research area. The purpose was to investigate public figure’s experiences of online social support made in their defence. Nine public figures (five women and four men) were interviewed and interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) was used to analyse the data. All participants perceived online social support as something overwhelmingly positive, but the level of significance ascribed to the support varied. These results suggest that online social support can function as an important contribution when it comes to reducing the problem of online harassment against public figures.