Doctors will focus on social media violence

Researchers at the University of Wolverhampton will examine the exposure to the “uncontrolled and uncensored” footage.

Research has already been carried out into the impact of videogames and films, as well as news footage, which can cause people to enter a “cycle of distress”.

But footage showcased on social media networks – and its impacts – have not been studied, experts have said. Some internet users interact with the material as a form of entertainment, while others are unwittingly exposed to it, with potential adverse consequences suspected.

Dr Joanne Lloyd and Dr Laura Nicklin are working as co-principal investigators on the project, called Exploring Harmful [Mis]information via Normalised Online Violent Content, which will start next year.

Dr Lloyd said: “Both the recording and exchanging of these acts would be considered by most as deviant, however, they risk becoming normalised where individuals are misinformed through frequent engagement within a peer group, both physical and digital social networks, or as part of an emerging subculture, particularly if unchallenged by external influences.

“A lack of knowledge about the prevalence and frequency of this behaviour, its psycho-social predictors, or its potential to cause psychological harm, mean that this funded research can play a crucial role in improving our understanding of this phenomenon.”

Funded by Facebook Research, the university experts have become one of 25 projects to be successfully backed – and just one of three across the UK.