Old Message in a New Bottle: Taking Gang Rivalries Online Through Rap Battle Music Videos on YouTube

Authors

Joseph D. Johnson, Rowan University
Natalie Schell-Busey, Rowan University

Abstract

"The Internet is changing society, including criminal behavior. It has been shown that gangs are active online, but it is unclear how gangs are using the Internet. Most studies seem to conclude that gang members are not using the Internet instrumentally to commit or promote criminal behavior, but these same studies show that gang members use social media for flame wars— to insult and threaten one another. We argue that using social media in this way is actually an instrumental use of the Internet because it promotes violence. According to the code of the street, a diss requires a response, often a violent one. Using a set of six underground battle rap videos, we demonstrate a connection between online flame wars and street-level violence."

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.

Recommended Citation

Johnson, Joseph D. and Schell-Busey, Natalie (2016) "Old Message in a New Bottle: Taking Gang Rivalries Online Through Rap Battle Music Videos on YouTube," Qualitative Criminology (QC): Vol. 4: No. 1, Article 2.
Available at: https://dc.swosu.edu/qc/vol4/iss1/2