Youth Gun Violence Prevention in a Digital Age

Firearm violence is a serious public health problem in the United States, where the firearm death rate is 10 times higher than other high-income, industrialized nations. However, the transmission and spread of violence has moved beyond face-to-face interaction to virtual interaction, exacerbated by growth in social media usage. Such usage creates a "digital street" where youth experiences in violent neighborhoods are depicted with aggressive and threatening text, video, and images. The level of aggression, threat, and provocation content escalates on social media and leads to retaliation, a behavior known as "internet banging."