Characteristics of Technology-Facilitated Abuse and Safety Strategies Discussed in the Reddit Community, r/Stalking

Background and Purpose: Technology-facilitated abuse (TFA), the use of digital technologies to stalk, harass, or coercively control someone else, has grown in prevalence and sophistication in recent years, creating challenges for social workers who are tasked with supporting the safety and well-being of our clients. The current research aimed to identify common manifestations of TFA being discussed by survivors in an online forum to better equip social workers to recognize and respond to these abuses. Specifically, this study explored three primary research questions: 1) What technologies/digital platforms are being used to perpetrate TFA?; 2) What tactics are being perpetrated via TFA?; and 3) What technology-related safety strategies are survivors deploying or asking about?

Methods: Descriptive quantitative content analysis was used to analyze Reddit posts (n = 412) from a subreddit dedicated to issues related to stalking (r/stalking). Python Reddit API Wrapper was used to extract posts based on how recently they were uploaded, which yielded 964 posts published in the subreddit from January-October of 2024. Data were reviewed and posts that were irrelevant to our research questions were excluded (e.g., posts which discussed only in-person stalking or abuse; posts with only images or videos that did not describe incidents of TFA), yielding a final analytic sample of 412 posts. Four team members reviewed all posts and generated a codebook addressing the three research questions. Two team members applied the codebook to all posts using MAXQDA software. Code applications were not mutually exclusive given that most posts referenced multiple forms of TFA being experienced.

Results: Within the current sample, the most common perpetrators of TFA were intimate partners (26%) and strangers (24%), followed by friends/acquaintances (14%) and co-workers/classmates (9%). TFA was most perpetrated via social media platforms (referenced in 55% of posts), followed by SMS texts (25%), phone calls (17%), and email (15%). The most common TFA tactics were harassing the victim (e.g., repeated, unwanted contact; 61% of posts), monitoring or surveilling their behaviors (e.g., observing their social media posts; 32%), harassing other people in the victim’s life (e.g., loved ones, bosses; 21%), catfishing or creating multiple online accounts to access the victim (21%), communicating threats of harm (18%), or tracking their location (13%). More than half (56%) of posts referenced at least one tech-related safety strategy that they had employed or planned to try, with the most common being blocking the perpetrator (e.g., via social media, phone numbers; 28%) and deleting (7%) or setting social media accounts to private (6%).

Conclusions and Implications: Posts in the current sample predominantly described TFA via common devices (e.g., phones) and accounts (e.g., email) which can be easy for other people to manipulate and difficult for survivors to disconnect from. Most survivors had already implemented some tech-related safety strategies; however, their help seeking posts to this forum suggest that additional supports are needed. Social workers should implement universal screenings for TFA, educate themselves on basic safety strategies, and identify local resources (e.g., technologists) for their clients.