Cyber-stalking or just plain talking?: Investigating the linguistic properties of rape-threat messages as compulsive behaviours
Mark Beech and Jonathan Bishop
Abstract
Rape call-out trolling, more commonly known as ‘rape-threat trolling,’ occurs when a person using a communication network sends a message relating to them ‘raping’ that person. Whilst this may disgust many people, this chapter finds that not all instances of rape call-out trolling is done to cause a person apprehension. The chapter finds that many Twitter users make rape threats to their friends in an affectionate way, and so appreciating the context of rape-threat messages is essential. The most notable targets of rape call-out trolling, Caroline Criado-Perez and Stella Creasy, were targeted following calling for less men to appear on British banknotes. These two findings have implications for public policy makers who are quite happy to see people go to jail for posting rape-threats when they were drunk, namely Isabella Sorley. The chapter concludes the context around rape-threat postings needs more consideration to determine what the core meanings are.
Reference
Mark Beech and Jonathan Bishop (2015). Cyber-stalking or just plain talking?: Linguistic properties of rape-threat messages reflect underlying compulsive behaviours. In: Jonathan Bishop (Ed.) Psychological and Social Issues Surrounding Internet and Gaming Addiction. IGI Global: Hershey, PA. Available online at: http://www.jonathanbishop.com/Library/Documents/EN/docIGIPaper_RapeThreatLinguistics.pdf
