Media Psychology: Trauma(tic) Media Responses
Social Media Activists and Trauma: How Activists Manage the Emotional Effects of Traumatic Media Content
Within the past 20 years, social justice activism has evolved from protests on the streets to advocacy on social media platforms. Activism has always relied on and evolved alongside new emerging technology. The COVID-19 pandemic forced activism to rely on online spaces even more than previously, providing new opportunities to those who could not access physical spaces to practice their activism. However, online activism is not without its risks. For this project, we are interested in how social media activists, particularly those from marginalized demographics, negotiate their activism practices online. I’m especially interested in learning about how they manage vicarious trauma from exposure to news depicting traumatizing content, such as police brutality, or hostile and threatening community comments on activism-relevant posts. At present, little is known about how activists on social media balance the risks and benefits of online activism and deal with the emotional fallout of exposure to trauma(tic) media.
This project is supported by UMich Rackham/NCID 2022 Anti-Racism Research Grants for Graduate Students
Racially Relevant Trauma(tic) Media and Stress Responses Amongst Vulnerable Viewers
Interest in trauma has increased dramatically over the past ten years, not only in academia but in public discourse. Despite this increase in scholarly and public interest in psychological trauma, there remains a dearth of research investigating the complicated relationship between media and trauma specifically among racially marginalized and vulnerable communities. Previous studies have evaluated media effects, and the negative psychological impact on media consumers, but focused on violent/harmful media that produces aggressive, fearful, and maladaptive behavior. However, I argue that media, especially digital media, that depicts traumatic content is engaged with and interpreted differently; therefore, the media impact of traumatic content is possibly different as well, especially amongst varying racially vulnerable populations. Though little work distinguishes violent media from traumatic media, research has indicated that the difference is rooted in narrative, victimhood, and audiences' embodiment of said content (Meek, 2011). This proposed study helps support and expand the definition of trauma(tic) media, or the depiction of human victimization. The proposed study aims to investigate how racially-relevant traumatic media content impacts Black-identifying media users psychologically and physically when considering shared identity and experience vulnerabilities.
This project is supported by UMich 2023 DEI Communication and Media Graduate Student Research Grant.
Leer has been asked to present her work on trauma(tic) media responses in undergraduate courses, conferences, other university workshops, and at UMich Museum of Natural History as a guest speaker.
