Revenge via social media and relationship contexts: Prevalence and measurement

Abstract

Social media platforms’ unique characteristics may make them particularly good outlets for getting even with relational partners. Establishing the prevalence of social media revenge and identifying the forms such revenge may take in different relationship contexts is an important first step in broadening our understanding of these behaviors. In a mixed-methods study, undergraduates ( N = 732) and community members ( N = 124) were randomly assigned to one of four relational contexts (coworkers, family, friends, and romantic partners) and asked to describe an act of social media revenge experienced or observed in their assigned context. They then rated how often they were the avenger, target, and observer of five control and monitoring and 11 direct aggression behaviors adapted from the Cyber Dating Abuse Questionnaire. The prevalence of social media revenge across all relationship contexts, roles, and revenge types was low and participants reported observing social media revenge more frequently than being the target or avenger. Social media revenge was also more prevalent in some relationships than others and the type of relationship between avenger and target may have implications for how revenge is executed. Analysis of participants’ accounts identified novel revenge behaviors and suggested ways to improve measurement of social media revenge.