Breaking the spiral of silence: News and social media dynamics on sexual abuse scandal in the Japanese entertainment industry.
Highlighting minorities and crime survivors through public discourse is essential for their support and protection. However, advocating for minorities is challenging due to the fear of potential isolation from one's social circles. This reluctance contributes to the societal phenomenon known as...
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| Main Authors: | , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Public Library of Science (PLoS)
2024-01-01
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| Series: | PLoS ONE |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0306104 |
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| author | Tsukasa Tanihara Mitsuki Irihara Taichi Murayama Mitsuo Yoshida Fujio Toriumi Kunihiro Miyazaki |
| author_facet | Tsukasa Tanihara Mitsuki Irihara Taichi Murayama Mitsuo Yoshida Fujio Toriumi Kunihiro Miyazaki |
| author_sort | Tsukasa Tanihara |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Highlighting minorities and crime survivors through public discourse is essential for their support and protection. However, advocating for minorities is challenging due to the fear of potential isolation from one's social circles. This reluctance contributes to the societal phenomenon known as the "spiral of silence," significantly impeding efforts to support socially vulnerable individuals. This study centers on a pivotal instance where the silence surrounding sexual abuse in the Japanese entertainment industry was disrupted, in which the late company president had allegedly abused idol trainees of the company for decades. Utilizing extensive data from news media and social media, the study probes the engagement dynamics of public attention to this scandal. Results indicate that users on social media provided earlier and greater coverage for this scandal compared to news media outlets. Furthermore, television demonstrated a significant delay in addressing this issue compared to other news media, such as tabloids, magazines, and online news. Regarding social media engagement, idol fans exhibited a more subdued response to the issue compared to the general public. Notably, fans more loyal to the company tended to be slower to mention the issue, with a higher likelihood of standing in defense of the perpetrators. Moreover, conflicting attitudes were observed within the fan communities, culminating in an observable "echo chamber" phenomenon. This paper presents a novel examination of the process of disruption of social silence and offers critical insights for aiding vulnerable individuals in environments dominated by an unacknowledged spiral of silence. This study is novel in that it suggests a reinterpretation of the "spiral of silence theory" in the age of social media, through a comprehensive analysis of relevant social media data and news media data. This contributes to the body of research that has analyzed the spiral of silence theory online. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-f89fc59863624aae870fc61ca44936eb |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 1932-6203 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2024-01-01 |
| publisher | Public Library of Science (PLoS) |
| record_format | Article |
| series | PLoS ONE |
| spelling | doaj-art-f89fc59863624aae870fc61ca44936eb2025-01-04T05:31:02ZengPublic Library of Science (PLoS)PLoS ONE1932-62032024-01-01196e030610410.1371/journal.pone.0306104Breaking the spiral of silence: News and social media dynamics on sexual abuse scandal in the Japanese entertainment industry.Tsukasa TaniharaMitsuki IriharaTaichi MurayamaMitsuo YoshidaFujio ToriumiKunihiro MiyazakiHighlighting minorities and crime survivors through public discourse is essential for their support and protection. However, advocating for minorities is challenging due to the fear of potential isolation from one's social circles. This reluctance contributes to the societal phenomenon known as the "spiral of silence," significantly impeding efforts to support socially vulnerable individuals. This study centers on a pivotal instance where the silence surrounding sexual abuse in the Japanese entertainment industry was disrupted, in which the late company president had allegedly abused idol trainees of the company for decades. Utilizing extensive data from news media and social media, the study probes the engagement dynamics of public attention to this scandal. Results indicate that users on social media provided earlier and greater coverage for this scandal compared to news media outlets. Furthermore, television demonstrated a significant delay in addressing this issue compared to other news media, such as tabloids, magazines, and online news. Regarding social media engagement, idol fans exhibited a more subdued response to the issue compared to the general public. Notably, fans more loyal to the company tended to be slower to mention the issue, with a higher likelihood of standing in defense of the perpetrators. Moreover, conflicting attitudes were observed within the fan communities, culminating in an observable "echo chamber" phenomenon. This paper presents a novel examination of the process of disruption of social silence and offers critical insights for aiding vulnerable individuals in environments dominated by an unacknowledged spiral of silence. This study is novel in that it suggests a reinterpretation of the "spiral of silence theory" in the age of social media, through a comprehensive analysis of relevant social media data and news media data. This contributes to the body of research that has analyzed the spiral of silence theory online.https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0306104 |
| spellingShingle | Tsukasa Tanihara Mitsuki Irihara Taichi Murayama Mitsuo Yoshida Fujio Toriumi Kunihiro Miyazaki Breaking the spiral of silence: News and social media dynamics on sexual abuse scandal in the Japanese entertainment industry. PLoS ONE |
| title | Breaking the spiral of silence: News and social media dynamics on sexual abuse scandal in the Japanese entertainment industry. |
| title_full | Breaking the spiral of silence: News and social media dynamics on sexual abuse scandal in the Japanese entertainment industry. |
| title_fullStr | Breaking the spiral of silence: News and social media dynamics on sexual abuse scandal in the Japanese entertainment industry. |
| title_full_unstemmed | Breaking the spiral of silence: News and social media dynamics on sexual abuse scandal in the Japanese entertainment industry. |
| title_short | Breaking the spiral of silence: News and social media dynamics on sexual abuse scandal in the Japanese entertainment industry. |
| title_sort | breaking the spiral of silence news and social media dynamics on sexual abuse scandal in the japanese entertainment industry |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0306104 |
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