Nowadays, finding a needle in a haystack is easier than finding somebody that doesn't use social media. Every day, the discriminatory age range of users dissolves as, in addition to the originally established adolescent and adult public, children and elders join what I dare say is, the most transcendental phenomenon of the last century: social media. Started off as a new way of communication. Social media brought us closer and connected the world in ways old methods could never. As time passed, the internet world evolved quickly, taking more aspects of real life into its virtualization such as work, studying, and shopping, among almost any other possible way in which people can interact with each other. At first glance, only positive aspects come from using Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, Twitter, etc. if we ignore the lack of regulation in the key factor that keeps this big not-so-well-oiled machine working: the interpersonal interactions between users. But there's a B side to this coin, a side that's not spoken about enough and that affects society, specifically adolescents, young adults, and minorities on a big scale as time passes without any intervention: Cyberbullying.
According to a research article written by Faye Grech and Mary Anne Laurie for the Malta Medical Journal, Cyberbullying is defined as an intentional and repeated aggressive act in an electronic context such as social media platforms, text messages, online games, etc. against a person who cannot easily defend oneself. This type of bullying travels faster, and targets a much larger audience, although it is generally targeted to individuals with certain characteristics. Some of them tend to be adolescents between 13-17 years old, with a higher number of reports of female victims, LGTBQ+ members, immigrants, and also physically disabled. Cyberbullying can include sending offensive pictures or messages, mocking, spreading false rumors, and excluding someone from a chat group with the purpose of hurting the victim. The authors report that "approximately half of the adolescents experience cyberbullying while more than half report witnessing frequent online bullying with most students failing to report it."
Several studies have reflected a correlation between cyberbullying and a number of psychopathological symptoms among the victims such as depression, phobic anxiety, internalizing and externalizing problems, interpersonal sensitivity, paranoia, and psychoticism. This shows that Cyberbullying is a problem that should be urgently addressed since young people who are victims of cyberbullying experience mild to severe mental issues that potentially affect every aspect of their life, and in the worst cases end up in suicide. On the other hand, it's been reported that individuals who have engaged in cyberbullying whether it was a victim or a perpetrator are more likely to engage in criminal behavior later in life. Grech and Laurie observe that "some cyberbullies admit that they themselves were bullied at a particular time" which leads to the conclusion that victims becoming perpetrators is another possible consequence of the misuse of social media.
Since cyberbullying has been a problem that affected society for a while, many methods have been implemented by institutions where this type of abuse took place the most, like schools, institutes, and social environments where also traditional bullying would occur. But since this type of bullying is different, the approach should also suit the circumstances and the context. "Differ to face-to-face bullying, cyberbullying does not have to witness the effects of the bullying of the victim, thus blurring the empathic interchange." (Gretch and Laurie.) Therefore, it has to be focused on ways to prevent it from other perspectives. For that, Nancy Davis and Caryn Schmidt's article "Cyberbullying and Cyber Abuse Intervention: The Three-Tiered Model for Schools" introduces the plan that suggests cyberbullying interventions should include prevention, early intervention, and intensive intervention strategies (366).
Three-tiered models are designed to promote advocacy and outreach at various levels:
"Tier 1: Primary prevention includes a school-wide definition of cyberbullying and cyber abuse, and an anti-bullying policy created and used by all students, parents, teachers, administrators, legal consultants, and support staff. School-wide training on cyberbullying and cyber abuse and their effects are included in Tier 1.
Tier 2: Targeted strategies focus on those students who have been identified as at risk for being a cyberbully or cyber victim.
Tier 3: Tertiary prevention programs target students with severe needs, including those students who are perpetual bullies and victims, and those who have threatened violence to peers or teachers and staff" (Shinn, Walker, & Stoner, as cited in Davis & Schmidt (370).
This model promises a decrease in the number of cyberbullying cases since its appropriate application prevents the situations before they arise, takes action when it occurs, and also installs the absolute rejection of this type of malicious behavior.
There's no doubt that Social Media has opened doors to new opportunities
Being on social media regularly has become the norm to millions of users across the globe. While mindless scrolling may not be a bigger issue than time consumption for some, it can lead to deeper problems for others. Social media users are exposed to thousands of images every single day and with Instagram and Tiktok being some of the most influential forms of media out there, some of its "influences' ' contribute to negatively affect the body image of consumers. In an article written by Gary Goldfield for the American Psychological Association, Goldfield shares the negative effects social media has on body image amongst young teens and how cutting back on social media can significantly improve one's self image.Gary Goldfield states "Social media can expose users to hundreds or even thousands of images and photos every day, including those of celebrities and fashion or fitness models, which we know leads to an internalization of beauty ideals that are unattainable for almost everyone, resulting in greater dissatisfaction with body weight and shape."(Gary Goldfield,P1).
Social Media used to be an option, and privilege at first but as times change and technology advances with time, it has become more of a requirement over the years to join the online world with the educational system and corporate culture including/resorting to social media as a new tool. Therefore, even if people wouldn't think they'd be missing out on the latest trends on the internet, they'd still have to log in for work or study. There's nothing wrong with renewing and refreshing methods of communication as long as the places where it's required to put these new methods in practice count with regulation and monitoring policies to make sure the users are safe. However, that is unfortunately not the case since Cyberbullying has been present and is still an ongoing problem, that affects mostly (but is not limited to) young people across the globe every day. This reflects how while Social media serves as a tool for connection and communication to some, it might be a nightmare to deal with for this vulnerable part of the public in such a way that could lead to permanent or long-term consequences on the victims and their mental health. In the article "Cyberbullying and the mental health of Adolescents" written by Faye Grech and Mary Anne Laurie for the Malta Medical Journal, the authors share the incidence and effects of cyberbullying investigated through a sample of 367 adolescents between the ages of 13 and 16. According to Grech and Laurie Cyberbullying is defined as an intentional and repeated aggressive act in an electronic context such as social media platforms, text messages, online games, etc. against a person who cannot easily defend oneself. This type of bullying travels faster, and targets a much larger audience, although it is generally targeted to individuals with certain characteristics. Some of them tend to be adolescents between 13-17 years old, with a higher number of reports of female victims, LGTBQ+ members, immigrants, and also physically disabled. Cyberbullying can include sending offensive pictures or messages, mocking, spreading false rumors, and excluding someone from a chat group with the purpose of hurting the victim. The authors report that "approximately half of the adolescents experience cyberbullying while more than half report witnessing frequent online bullying with most students failing to report it."
The article based on a study questionnaire that was adapted from the EU Kids Online European study reflects a correlation between cyberbullying and a number of psychopathological symptoms among the victims such as depression, phobic anxiety, internalizing and externalizing problems, interpersonal sensitivity, paranoia, and psychoticism. This shows that Cyberbullying is a problem that should be urgently addressed since young people who are victims of cyberbullying experience mild to severe mental issues that potentially affect every aspect of their life, and in the worst cases end up in suicide. On the other hand, it's been reported that individuals who have engaged in cyberbullying whether it was a victim or a perpetrator are more likely to engage in criminal behavior later in life. Grech and Laurie observe that "some cyberbullies admit that they themselves were bullied at a particular time" which leads to the conclusion that victims becoming perpetrators is another possible consequence of the misuse of social media.
