Sarah Sobieraj is Professor of Sociology at Tufts University, where she directs the Digital Sexism Project. She is an expert on US political culture, extreme incivility, digital abuse and harassment, and the mediated information environment. Sobieraj is the author of The Outrage Industry: Political Opinion Media and the New Incivility with Jeff Berry, and Soundbitten: The Perils of Media-Centered Political Activism.

• Acknowledgments


• Introduction: Weaponized Identities


• Chapter 1: Hostile Speaking Environment


• Chapter 2: Just Get Off the Internet


• Chapter 3: Constant Calibration (Preventative Labor)


• Chapter 4: Anger Management (Ameliorative Labor)


• Chapter 5: Personal Troubles and Public Issues


• Conclusions: Resilience Isn't Enough


• Notes


• References


• Index

Credible Threat delves into the torrent of online abuse directed at women who speak publicly about political and social issues. Sarah Sobieraj shows that identity-based abuse online is a form of patterned resistance to women's voices and visibility, rather than a simple matter of interpersonal bullying. Drawing on interviews with over fifty women who have been targeted by digital harassment, Credible Threat ultimately shows that this toxicity comes with economic, professional, and psychological costs for those targeted, while also exacting societal-level costs that are rarely recognized. Sobieraj traces these underexplored effects, showing that when identity-based attacks succeed in constraining women's use of digital publics, there are democratic consequences that cannot be ignored.