This study examines how the #MeToo-movement was influenced by different forms of informal justice on the social media platform Twitter in 2017. Furthermore, online U.S. news media is analyzed in its contributory role during the movement. Thus, these two sites of analysis also highlight the interplay between social media and online news sources. Therefore, the research questions are: R.Q. 1: How were different forms of informal justice facilitated through networked activism on Twitter during the 2017 #MeToo-movement?R.Q. 2: In what ways did the reporting of online U.S. news media contribute to the mechanisms of informal justice on social media during the 2017 #MeToo-movement? Both questions are answered through two independent qualitative content analyses: The first critically evaluates 80 tweets from the social media platform Twitter that were published between October 15 - December 31, 2017, with the hashtag #MeToo; the second reviews 12 online articles from online U.S. news sources that reported about the online proliferation of the #MeToo-movement.While the results contained online shaming of celebrities and public figures, no distinctive forms of punishment or vigilantism could be identified within the samples. Furthermore, victims of abuse engaged in self-disclosure without exposing their abusers. Still, informal justice could be understood as a way to speak up against societal injustice by expressing a clear warning towards sexual perpetrators through digitally networked activism. At the same time, online news source merely reiterated social media developments without engaging in additional online shaming. However, these news sources also participated in #MeToo-related justice by spreading further awareness about the movement. Thus, a reciprocal relationship between social media and online U.S. news media became evident.

TikTok differs from how the media audience is used to seeing other social media platforms. When opening the app, the user does not see the friends you have decided to follow. Instead, you are faced with an algorithmically decided and never-ending feed of content personified individually for the specific user. In recent years, TikTok has become a prominent and rapidly growing platform, especially among younger media users. The emergence of TikTok usage among the youth implies an increased need for examining cultural phenomena that are performed on this platform. This study will be exploring the emergence of the online phenomenon known as mediated public shaming on TikTok by critically reviewing how young Swedish TikTok users are engaging in and experiencing the mediated public shaming that is occurring on TikTok as well as its effects by taking a theoretical departure from media literacy theories. The study is a qualitative reception study where the empirical material is conducted by one-to-one interviews with nine mundane Swedish TikTok users between the ages of 16–27. It was discovered that young TikTok users have a complex relationship with the mediated public shaming they face on TikTok and engage in the concept in a rather objective and reflective manner. They do, however, express concern that the design of the media, in conjunction with mediated public shaming, may allow for subconscious effects of their opinions. Looking forward, there is an indicated compelling need for continued research within the field, proposedly further research of online cultures’ roles in the determination of platform design and construction of algorithms.