Navigating moral practice online : a qualitative study of New Zealand social media users after the Christchurch mosque attacks

Social media figured strongly in many people’s experiences of, and responses to, the Christchurch mosque attack on 15th March 2019. This study aimed to examine the online moral practices of some New Zealand citizens and residents over this time. It explored some of the affordances and limitations of the social media platforms for responding to an event involving nationally unprecedented violence, explicit online material, objectionable and racist speech, and real and anticipated trauma. In framing itself around “anthropology of the good”, the study also emphasised the agencies of online social actors, highlighting the nuanced everyday moral systems they developed (and continually, collectively renegotiated) in response.