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Linguistic analysis brings Glitch closer to its audience

The Challenge

One in three women has experienced online abuse, and Black women are 84% more likely to be abused online than white women. UK-based charity Glitch’s mission is to end online abuse for good.

We joined forces with Glitch on a pro bono basis to help them consistently connect with victims and supporters.

Glitch wanted to communicate with the language their audience uses — so we went beyond traditional social listening to understand how people really talk about online abuse and its effects.

Our Solution

Using a combination of social conversation listening, ethnographic research techniques and search data, our analysts and planners revealed the digital behavior and language patterns of people affected by online abuse.

We developed an approach to identify themes from Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, and Tumblr that would have otherwise been untraceable via their APIs.

The research allowed us to recommend impactful language for Glitch to communicate with their audience more effectively.

Results

We found a gap between how Glitch speaks about online abuse vs. victims and bystanders. We were able to recommend specific words and phrases Glitch can use to get on the same level as their audience.

Glitch used the findings to inform their newly commissioned research into Digital Misogynoir, incorporating some of our discoveries about Black women’s experiences of online abuse into their media outreach. They’ve also been proactively engaging with online dating sites using our findings.

They adjusted their SEO and messaging to include more commonly used language, which allows them to reach a wider audience and educate more people about online abuse and how to combat it.

Linguistic analysis brings Glitch closer to its audience
Analyzing internet behavior and language to help Glitch better connect with people affected by online abuse

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