Sharing Experiences and Seeking Informal Justice Online: A Grounded Theory Analysis of Zoombombing Victimization on Reddit

ABSTRACT

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Zoombombing emerged as a new form of online disruption/harassment characterized by unintended and unsolicited virtual visits by both strangers and known individuals via Zoom. The current study utilizes a grounded theory-based qualitative analysis of over 1,000 posts on Reddit to explore discussions around Zoombombing victimization incidents. This paper reveals how Zoombombing victimization subreddits function as communities for sharing victimization stories, user perceptions, and support while further developing a space that promotes informal justice online. The implications include an enhanced understanding of how Zoombombing occurs and the role of online forums and cyberpolicing tools in preventing and discussing victimization.

KEYWORDS:

• Zoombombing
• victimization
• reporting
• Reddit
• grounded theory

Disclosure statement

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

Notes

1. These were created by 639 users across twenty-four subreddits.

2. In order to protect privacy of users, user-related information (e.g., usernames) are not included in the paper. In addition, we assigned numbers instead of using the original subreddit title.

3. We acknowledge that there are cases where victim is not seen as victims but rather as “fake” and offenders as telling the truth. However, in this research, we did not find that evidence and would like to explore its related issues further. We thank one of the reviewers to bring this issue to our attention.