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2014 was declared “the year of the feminist hashtag,” with the rise of feminist based social movements via the social media sites Twitter and Facebook. This type of “micro organizing” has been praised for having a low-entry point to encourage participation and for its potential to raise awareness about social issues. This study investigates the use of the #WhyIStayed and #WhyILeft hashtags. These hashtags were used by Bev Goodin (a survivor of intimate partner violence) in response to the public outcry when football player Ray Rice’s spouse Janay stayed in her relationship after a public assault. Through analyzing a subsection of tweets (n=3,000) using the #WhyIStayed and #WhyILeft hashtags, the purpose of this presentation is to map the dimensions of the conversation that this campaign inspired on Twitter.
METHODS
Data & Sample: The study sample (n=3,000) is composed of a random sample of 63,000 global tweets that employed the designated hashtags. The larger sample was requested directly from a subsidiary of Twitter. All tweets were included in the sample if they included the #WhyIStayed and #WhyILeft Hashtags and were tweeted in English. Tweets were excluded if they were used for commercial purposes.
Analysis: All tweets were analyzed inductively using multiple rounds of primary and secondary coding. All of the hashtags were coded by two analysts to endure consistency and to solicit a diversity of interpretive viewpoints. Memos were used throughout the analysis process to surface key themes. Dedoose analytic software was employed.
RESULTS
This study revealed the emergence of five thematic domains: victims/survivors of DV describing their reasons for staying in and/or leaving abusive relationships (56% of tweets); educating about DV (9%); encouraging others to participate and/or learn from the campaign (7%); a general emotive response (25%); and tweets with an unclear meaning (2%). Tweeters employed over 100 unique reasons for why they stayed in abusive relationships, with the most common being threats of harm, the severity of the abuse, and believing the relationship would improve. The primarily reason cited for leaving was concern for their children. Educational messages contained content related to explaining abuse dynamics and the challenges to safely leaving abusive relationships. The majority of general responses to the campaign were in support of DV victims, praising the potential of twitter to raise awareness about DV, and derogatory comments about individuals who stay in abusive relationships.
CONCLUSIONS & IMPLICATIONS
The #WhyIStayed social media campaign provided an important forum for victims to share their stories of strength and resiliency. The diversity of their responses reveals the incredible complexity involved in the “decision” to stay in DV relationships. While the majority of tweets came from self-described victims, there was also a significant number of individuals using the campaign as an opportunity to learn about the dynamics of DV and to express their solidarity. The #WhyIStayed campaign extended beyond a space of feminist dialogue, but became a broader platform for global public discourse on the barriers to leaving abusive relationships. Further implications for social work practice will be discussed.