SnuggleSense: Empowering Online Harm Survivors Through a Structured Sensemaking Process

TL;DR

This paper addresses online interpersonal harm and the limits of punitive content moderation by introducing SnuggleSense, a restorative-justice–inspired sensemaking system for survivors. It guides reflection, provides informational support from survivors with similar experiences, and visualizes action plans on a timeline to empower survivors with agency. In a controlled within-subject experiment, SnuggleSense improved sensemaking and perceived support compared with unstructured sensemaking, and participants formed broader, more collaborative action plans incorporating peer suggestions. The work offers design insights for tailoring informational support, nurturing survivor communities, safeguarding participants, and connecting sensemaking to restorative action, advancing survivor-centered approaches to online harm.

Abstract

Online interpersonal harm, such as cyberbullying and sexual harassment, remains a pervasive issue on social media platforms. Traditional approaches, primarily content moderation, often overlook survivors' needs and agency. We introduce SnuggleSense, a system that empowers survivors through structured sensemaking. Inspired by restorative justice practices, SnuggleSense guides survivors through reflective questions, offers personalized recommendations from similar survivors, and visualizes plans using interactive sticky notes. A controlled experiment demonstrates that SnuggleSense significantly enhances sensemaking compared to an unstructured process of making sense of the harm. We argue that SnuggleSense fosters community awareness, cultivates a supportive survivor network, and promotes a restorative justice-oriented approach toward restoration and healing. We also discuss design insights, such as tailoring informational support and providing guidance while preserving survivors' agency.

Figures (3)

• Figure 1: The Guided Reflection Process and Personalized Informational Support in SnuggleSense. SnuggleSense guides survivors' sensemaking process through a series of reflective questions inspired by restorative justice pre-conference. The questions prompt survivors to reflect on their experiences of harm, their feelings, the impact of the harm, their needs, and action plans to address those needs (steps 1-4). SnuggleSense also supports survivors' sensemaking process by providing them with personalized information. Based on each survivor's answer to the reflective questions, SnuggleSense searches for similar survivors in the database (step A) and recommends action items from similar survivors (step B). If consent is given (step C), survivors' action plans are incorporated into the database for making future suggestions.
• Figure 2: SnuggleSense Grants Agency Through a Design Process. The step number of the graph corresponds with Figure \ref{['figdesign']}. SnuggleSense grants survivors agency through interactive sticky notes and a visual timeline for their action plans. Participants use these features to generate their action items (step 3), include suggested actions (step B), and visualize their plans on a timeline (step 4). These design activities serve to encourage survivors to exercise agency and creativity in exploring diverse ways to address harm and meet their unique needs. The screenshots in this figure illustrate the essential components of the system but do not encompass the entire interface.
• Figure 3: The average ratings participants gave to the 5 design goals in the Unstructured and Structured conditions. The rating scale is from 1-7, where 1 indicates strongly disagree and 7 indicates strongly agree. Two-tailed t-tests; standard deviations in parentheses, * p < .05, ** p < .01, *** p < .001. Bars signify standard error.