ABSTRACT
Vihan ja inhon internet (The Internet of Hate and Loathing, 2017), by Johanna Vehkoo and Emmi Nieminen, is a work of comics journalism that explores online hate directed at women in Finland. The large-format, long-form, and colourful comic outlines the problem of online harassment and violence against women, and proposes solutions to it. The analysis shows how the depiction of the problem fluctuates between a perspective, on the one hand, on the collective, and on the other hand, on the individual. For example, while the effects of online violence in women’s lives are described through individualised stories, the problem is also presented as societal and political, to be solved collectively. The associated personal problems are also common, structural, and political. Through the combination of verbal and visual means, the comic conjoins the two perspectives to provide the reader with an educational analysis and information as well as an empowering message of feminist collectivity and coping support.
