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Introduction
First things first - Help Ukraine! https://supportukrainenow.org/
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I am working as an associate professor of media studies at University of Tartu. I am involved in research focusing mainly on young people’s use (and non-use, going “off the grid”) of social media, different literacies (e.g. digital, MIL, social media, porn) and various online risks (e.g. gendered online hate, online shaming, online child sexual abuse and grooming). But most of all, I love teaching.
Current institution
Additional affiliations
October 2021 - present
September 2017 - October 2020
September 2015 - October 2021
Education
September 2011 - June 2017
Publications
Publications (28)
Several studies have shown the effect of information activism and microinterventions, such as I Am Here International, the Elves and #NAFO to combat information disorder and hate online. Nevertheless, microinterventions have yet to be conceptualised in promoting media and information literacy (MIL) and informational resilience. This study positions...
It is crucially important, before I even begin writing anything else, to emphasize that I am an Estonian and I live in Estonia, a small country situated next to Russia. Although we live in a constant state of psychological warfare, strategic information disorder, and intimidation, I can sleep every night without fear of bombs hitting my house or ho...
As social life and communication move increasingly online, we have experienced the expansion and the normalisation of online shaming – different forms of (semi)public cross-platform condemnation of people and their actions by (mass) online audiences. Online shamings can be analysed as combinations of reintegrative (shame-correct-forgive) and disint...
The aim of this article is to explore the audience and moderator types on Instagram's misogynist content exposé pages (MCEPs)-where people share and shame screenshots depicting gendered online hate, harassment, and men's sexual entitlement. We have framed our study with concepts like refracted publics, imagined audiences, and shaming as a social pr...
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The stereotype of the “ideal victim” often determines who is considered deserving of victim status, especially in sexual violence cases. In this Chapter, we explore how is the so-called “ideal victim” stereotype constructed and what are the elements necessary for the perception of “ideal victimhood.” We use empirical data from an unmoderated...
While the excessive use of social media is associated with many difficulties in daily life (including mental health problems), the topic can be overemphasised in the media, and there is no reason to consider social media use in itself as the root cause of problems in daily life.
Methods in practice: Studying children and youth online Kotilainen, Sirkku (Ed.) Erstveröffentlichung / Primary Publication Sammelwerk / collection Empfohlene Zitierung / Suggested Citation: Kotilainen, S. (Ed.). (2022). Methods in practice: Studying children and youth online. Hamburg: Leibniz-Institut für Medienforschung | Hans-Bredow-Institut (HB...
In 2012, I was planning to tackle the subject of arguably the “worst” of the online nightmare audiences for my PhD project, aiming to study young people’s perceptions and experiences with online predators (Murumaa-Mengel, 2015). Knowing that face-to-face interviews could become stressful and awkward if carried out in the traditional question-answer...
Spectacular cases of child sexual abuse (CSA) dominate media coverage again and again, shaping our knowledge about a topic that is as sensitive as it is taboo. To date, a scholarly overview of the current state of media coverage of SBC has been lacking. This book attempts to shed light on the connections between SBCs and the media in a variety of w...
The stereotype of the “ideal victim” often determines who is considered deserving of victim status, especially in sexual violence cases. In this Chapter, we explore how is the so-called “ideal victim” stereotype constructed and what are the elements necessary for the perception of “ideal victimhood.” We use empirical data from an unmoderated anonym...
Several studies have established that female journalists experience (sexual) harassment and online abuse considerably more than their male colleagues. Understandably, this has resulted in a gap in research-male journalists' experiences with abusive online communication have not yet been thoroughly studied. This paper seeks to understand how abusive...
Digikultuur on ühtaegu imeline ja õudne, võimestav ja diskrimineeriv, julgustav ja mõnitav, jäik ja dünaamiline. Naljad on tihti piiripealsed ja ekstreemset trollimist (sihilikku tüli provotseerimist või auditooriumi ässitamist emotsionaalse vastuseni) nähakse meelelahutusena. Sellisest rammusast pinnasest on võrsunud ka kõikvõimalikud veebihäbista...
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The stereotype of the “ideal victim” often determines who is considered deserving of victim status, especially in sexual violence cases. In this Chapter, we explore how is the so-called “ideal victim” stereotype constructed and what are the elements necessary for the perception of “ideal victimhood.” We use empirical data from an unmoderated...
Millised võimalused avanevad uurijale, kui aeg ja ruum on uuringus osalejate jaoks paindlikud tegurid? Kuidas kombineerida online’i ja offline’i, et paremini mõista inimeste igapäevaelu, tajutud tähendusi, väärtushinnanguid ja tõekspidamisi? Kuidas viia läbi Skype’i-intervjuud? Kas fookusgruppi saab üldse veebipõhiselt korraldada, kaotamata meetodi...
The aim of this study was to explore the practices and perceived ethical dilemmas of beauty and fashion bloggers when featuring sponsored posts on their blogs. Based on qualitative in-depth interviews (n=10) conducted with popular Estonian bloggers and expert interviews with representatives of the Estonian Consumer Protection Board (ECPB) we can no...
This article provides an overview of how children and young people who are victims of sexual violence seek help and support from online forums, and the reactions and responses following such posts. Also, we look at how rape myths and stereotypes affect both the victims’ and respondents’ attitudes towards sexual violence, victim-blaming, and help-se...
Previous research has indicated that media technologies and media use form an important cultural glue within generations. Younger generations, in particular, have been noted to build their generational identity around the technology and devices that they use. We believe it is important to explore how generations and shared identities are constructe...
This article explores how disruption of habitual social media use reshapes the information behavior of emerging adults. Using the core ideas from theories about the social acceleration of time, reverse domestication and social media literacies, we designed a study where full-time BA-level students (N = 42) were asked to keep a diary about quitting...
The aim of this thesis is to explore how people perceive and construct their imagined audiences on social media and which social media literacies are central to the process. In addition, the methodological approach of creative research methods and researcher’s role in studying sensitive topic is analysed.
Due to living in technologically mediated...
This article analyzes Estonian high school students’ (N = 10) perceptions of the online pervert. To get a multimodal and thorough understanding of this phenomenon, 12th graders were first asked to make drawings of online perverts and, later, follow-up in-depth interviews were conducted. A combination of visual and verbal methods helped to reveal th...
The right to control and limit access to one’s information is increasingly discussed not only in the context of governments, but also within big multi-national companies. Estonia is proud of its emerging e-state, where increasing number of services are being provided online with more and more data collected about citizens. The Soviet past of living...
This study explored Estonian teachers’ perceptions and practices about student-teacher interaction on Facebook. Four focus group interviews with high-school teachers (n=21) revealed that educators are used to monitoring their students’ posts on Facebook and consider it their role to intervene whenever something inappropriate is posted. Teachers vie...
This paper analyses Estonian high-school students (N=15) perceptions about the imagined audience on Facebook. Students' sketches (N=39) and reflections on focus group interviews indicate that the youth are well aware of the plurality of the imagined audience on Facebook. From the total of six prevalent user types and sub-types that emerged, just on...
The aim of the current study was to explore the reasons why Estonian teenagers tend to over-share their private and intimate information on social media, especially on Facebook. Two focus-group interviews were carried out with 16-20 year old high school students (N=15), in June 2010, in order to study their experiences and opinions about the percei...
Portal Rate.ee has given people a chance to satisfy their need for fame and social acceptance. Considering that a nickname is an important detail in web-based impression formation, the selection of Rate.ee users analysed in this paper consists of people who chose to link their web identity with sexiness – 207 users whose name contained the word “se...
The purpose of the present Master’s thesis „The Importance and Role of Audience in New Media: Messages on Social Networking Sites“ was to explore the characteristics of the messages that teens post in virtual communities, more precisely on Facebook. Another goal of the thesis was to analyze who is the (perceived) audience of these messages and what...
