Gender-Based Toxicity in Online Gaming Communities

Female gamers have reported experiences of verbal abuse and harassment on the basis of their identity.

Current in-game systems of reporting and discipline are generally perceives as ineffective.

​How do people perceive and experience in-game abuse and harassment?

How do they relate in-game experiences to offline ("real life") experiences of abuse and harassment?

I analyzed social media data using topic modeling to identify how the gaming communities generally discuss gender-based abuse and harassment. 

​

The topics generated are being used to guide interviews with 30 women who have experienced abuse and harassment while gaming.

This is an ongoing project!

This section will be updated with a summary of the results in summer 2026.