The phenomenon of pathostreaming and pathological content in the face of media policy

Abstract

Pathological online communication behaviours and their detrimental effects have remained a significant component of Internet research ever since it became a field of study in media science. It is safe to say that, in addition to the valuable content posted on social media, one can also find content that can be threatening given the media reality of today’s online audience. In the author’s opinion, pathostreaming and pathological content should certainly be considered as such. Pathostreaming is a new phenomenon in the media space, which involves posting of online recordings or images containing obscene, vulgar and sexual content, as well as, spreading hate speech on various digital platforms. Its peculiarity has contributed to the emergence of new media entities – the pathostreamer, the pathoinfluencer and the pathouser. The author of this article attempts to analyse the activities of obscene content creators and their viewers using content analysis and interviews. The paper’s goals are to demonstrate the phenomenon of pathostreaming as the risk of social pathologies being transmitted into the online space and to outline media policy towards this media problem.