Steubenville Rape Case Divides Social Media Again [Twitter Reacts]

The Steubenville rape case was essentially precipitated on social media — and played out on social media — and now that the verdict is in, social media is bitterly divided as to what sentiment about the crime and its aftermath reveals in its strange wake.

The Steubenville rape case seems to bring to mind again the uncomfortable truth that while we all seem to agree rape is bad, we can’t seem to banish the ideas of victim responsibility, even if said victim is a young girl.

The analysis has played out on feminist blogs, conservative blogs, political blogs and indeed on Facebook and Twitter, where opinions about with whom the fault lies for the Steubenville rape case saga is still being bitterly debated. (The victim herself, the boys, football culture, the role of Anonymous in ensuring justice — all have been blamed for the horrible situation in Steubenville.)

As Twitter reacts to the Steubenville rape case, here are a few of the top tweets:

Steubenville chick? Meh. Bet she won’t be going to too many booze-fueled parties any time soon. Slut. twitter.com/mikehill33/sta…

— mikehill33 (@mikehill33) March 19, 2013

Its sad that those kids are being wrongfully accused of rape up in Steubenville. That slut was definitely asking for the D.

— Duane Cotton(@DuaneCotton) March 18, 2013

So have they convicted that 16 year old teenager in #Steubenville of being a slut yet? #AmericanJustice

— BorderingOrder (@borderorder) March 13, 2013

WTF? Really @cnn ? -> CNN grieves that guilty verdict ruined ‘promising’ lives of #Steubenville rapists rawstory.com/rs/2013/03/17/… #Pathetic!

— Anonymous Press (@AnonymousPress) March 18, 2013

Dear @cnn, the verdict didn’t “ruin” the “promising” lives of #Steubenville rapists. Their decision to rape did. rawstory.com/rs/2013/03/17/…

— Jessica Valenti (@JessicaValenti) March 17, 2013

Why is there even a debate who the victim is in this Steubenville case? A girl got raped. She’s the victim. The media disgusts me sometimes.

— Jayme Dee (@jaymedee123) March 19, 2013