ANALYSIS OF YOUTH SELF-HARM PROFILES AND NARRATIVES ON TWITTER AND TIKTOK

Povzetek

The analysis of self-harm–related content on social media provides insight into risk dynamics and dissemination patterns within digital environments. This study investigates the presence and characteristics of users on Twitter and TikTok who post content associated with self-harming behaviors, covering the period from November 2022 to June 2023. A total of 250,000 tweets from 66,732 unique users were collected using the hashtags #shtwt, #ouchietwt, #sefharm, and #goretwt, with the analysis focusing on the first 1,000 tweets of the sample. A TikTok profile was created to retrieve information and verify post recommended by the platform875 posts containing specific hashtags(#Catscratchtwt, #Scars, #Cuttwt, #Beanstwt, #X_sh, #Sh, #Babycuts, #Shscars, #Styrofoam)from January to April 2024. Of these, 102 posts (11.65%) were directly related to self-harm, and 400 posts were subjected to manual analysis. User profiles were classified based on account status, inferred gender, and predominant language. Significant differences were observed across nearly all profile variables. The findings reveal platform-specific user profiles and behavioral dynamics, highlighting distinct risks for prevention, monitoring, and intervention strategies.