This book explores the growing phenomenon of the social media storm in the context of educational establishments. With a methodological approach that draws on aspects of virtual and offline ethnography, the text presents a series of case studies of public online risk-related incidents. Our ethnographic methodology adopts the use of unobtrusive data collection approaches, to explore publicly available data from online interactive behaviours. Drawing on a range of methods from internet mediated research (IMR) to inform our ethnographic account, the book provides an in-depth exploration of the public and organisational discourses arising from four short, clear high-profile internet risk case studies in the education sector ranging from early year to higher education. It considers the social construction of a new ‘risk’ culture arising computer-mediated social interactions and its impact on, and response by, the organisations and society.

Andy Phippen is a Professor of Digital Rights at the Bournemouth University, UK.

Emma Bond is Director of Research and Professor of Socio-Technical Research at the University of Suffolk, UK.

The authors have extensive research experience focusing on online risk, online behaviours, safeguarding vulnerable groups, with, collectively, over 30 years in the field.