Nameless, Voiceless, and Helpless: Visual Framing of Distant Outgroups in Online Humanitarian Appeals

• Published in: Journal of intercultural studies Vol. 45; no. 4; pp. 772 - 794
• Main Authors: Yeoh, Ryna, Kim, Nuri
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Abingdon Routledge 03-07-2024; Taylor & Francis Ltd
• Subjects: Beneficiaries; Content analysis; Donations; Frail; Frame analysis; Group identity; Helplessness; humanitarian communication; Humanitarianism; Intergroup relations; Internet; mediated intergroup contact; Organizations; Rhetoric; Social media; Social networks; Visual framing
• ISSN: 0725-6868; 1469-9540
• DOI: 10.1080/07256868.2022.2107622

The current study examines how distant outgroups are portrayed in humanitarian appeals on a popular social media platform, YouTube. Social media is a growing platform for humanitarian organisations to spread messages about crises, as they can reach a wide audience in a quick and costless manner. Drawing from theories of visual framing and intergroup relations, this study analyses how organisations frame the outgroup beneficiaries in their online donation appeals. A quantitative content analysis was conducted to explore online humanitarian donation appeals, with a focus on the visual content used to portray outgroup beneficiaries. The study sampled 187 videos from 10 prominent humanitarian organisations' YouTube channels. Findings indicate that while humanitarian organisations have largely moved away from an explicit rhetoric of frail, dying, and suffering subjects, subtle notions of helplessness are still prevalent. The narrative that outgroup beneficiaries are passive sufferers can hence be detrimental to intergroup relations.