The Normalization of Stalking: Twitter and Social Media “Stalking”

• In Event: Roundtable: Gender-Based Violence and Social Media: The Online Feminist Counter-Public, Alternative Justice, and Backlash

Abstract

In theory, Twitter offers a space where users can popularize terminology that describes potentially violent behavior. This presentation will discuss the normalization of the terms “stalking” and “follow” to analyze incidents where twitter users “follow” a celebrity as a way to “stalk” their social life. The discussion will revolve around the use of “follow” and “stalking” as terms to describe unwanted and/or unconsented to behaviors. It will interrogate the feminist concept of “the personal is political” by addressing Twitter as a platform for politics and analyze how the public/private sphere of society normalizes the act of stalking by popularizing terms that describe potentially violent behavior.

Author

• Jennifer Meneray, The George Washington University