#Narcissisticabuse: sharing personal and educational narratives during domestic violence awareness month

ABSTRACT

This article uses the framework of ‘digitized narratives’ to examine how, in the aftermath of the Gabby Petito case, survivors of narcissistic abuse turned to Twitter to share personal narratives and educate others about violence against women. Drawing on a qualitative content analysis of 204 tweets collected during Domestic Violence Awareness Month in the U.S. in October 2021, we argue that survivors of narcissistic abuse used #NarcissisticAbuse to build community, publicize the characteristics of narcissistic abuse, and encourage survivors to recognize warning signs and seek help. The strong educational focus in the discourse around #NarcissisticAbuse separates it from other social media movements (e.g., #MeToo, #WhyIStayed) in that women strategically drew on their personal narratives to describe the traits of a narcissist, the control mechanisms used to subdue victims, and the types of abuse they experienced. In doing so, they educated the public about the dangers of narcissistic abuse and raised awareness about this often less visible and less talked about form of abuse.

KEYWORDS:

• Intimate partner violence
• narcissistic abuse
• social media
• hashtags
• online communities
• content analysis

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Olivia Nuss

Olivia Nuss is a graduate student at the Louisiana State University Paul M. Hebert Law Center, where she is completing a joint degree program that will allow her to receive her Juris Doctor, her Master of Mass Communication, and her Graduate Diploma in Comparative Law. Her primary areas of research include new media technologies, gender studies, and emerging sports law issues.

Hannah Ross

Hannah Ross is a graduate student in the Manship School of Mass Communication at Louisiana State University. Her research interests include digital media and gender studies, technology and media ethics in wartime, and virtual reality in war reporting.

Fanny Ramirez

Fanny Ramirez is an Assistant Professor of Media Law at Louisiana State University where she holds a joint appointment with the Manship School of Mass Communication and LSU's interdisciplinary Center for Computation and Technology. Her research examines the use of information communication technologies in sexual violence and criminal justice contexts with an eye towards issues of race and gender inequality, discrimination, and privacy.