"Dark participation" (malicious online participation including offensive speech, hate speech, fake news, and conspiracy theories) harms the well-being of victims, but for the perpetrators it might provide unique gratifications including experiences of pleasure

Dark Social Media Participation and Well-being. Thorsten Quandt, Johanna Klapproth, Lena Frischlich. Current Opinion in Psychology, December 11 2021. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.copsyc.2021.11.004

Highlights

• Dark participation describes various forms of malicious online participation including offensive speech, hate speech, fake news, and conspiracy theories.

• Dark participation entails the participation of, at least, the perpetrators and victims—often also observers.

• Dark participation can severely harm the well-being of victims and can have noxious effects on intergroup relationships and society at large.

• For the perpetrators, dark participation might provide unique gratifications including experiences of pleasure that are yet to be fully explored by research.

Abstract: In recent years, there have been increasing global concerns about the abuse of digital technologies for malicious “dark participation,” the spreading of digital offenses, hate speech, fake news, and conspiracy theories. Clearly, dark participation can have severe effects on the victims and on society at large. However, less is known about the impact of dark participation on the perpetrators’ well-being. Preliminary research on the perpetrators indicates positive emotions and specific gratifications resulting from their behavior, in particular when it is fully consistent with their ideologies. Uncovering these gratifications—and the positive effects dark participation may have on perpetrators’ well-being—could be the key to a better understanding of the dark side of social media.

Keywords: conspiracy theoriesdark participationfake newshate speechincivilityoffensive speechperpetratorsvictimswell-being