Elsevier

Computers in Human Behavior

Volume 55, Part B, February 2016, Pages 1097-1105
Computers in Human Behavior

Full length article
College student cyberbullying on social networking sites: Conceptualization, prevalence, and perceived bystander responsibility

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2015.11.019Get rights and content

Highlights

  • Explored college student cyberbullying experiences on Social Networking Sites (SNS).

  • 19% of college students reported having been bullied on SNS.

  • 46% of college students reported having been bystanders to cyberbullying on SNS.

  • Majority of bystanders did not engage when they witnessed cyberbullying.

Abstract

The majority of research on cyberbullying has been conducted with middle school and high school students and has not focused on specific technology platforms. The current study investigated college student experiences with cyberbullying on Social Networking Sites (SNS). College students (N = 196) from a northwestern university shared their conceptualizations of what cyberbullying looked like on SNS. Some college students (19%) reported that they had been bullied on SNS and 46% indicating that they had witnessed cyberbullying on SNS. The majority (61%) of college students who witnessed cyberbullying on SNS did nothing to intervene. College students were also asked about their perceived responsibility when they witnessed cyberbullying on SNS. Two diverging themes emerged that indicated some college students believed their responsibility to intervene was circumstantial, while others believed there is a constant clear level of responsibility for college student cyberbullying bystanders on SNS.

Introduction

Cyberbullying (i.e., bullying via technology) occurs among students in higher education, but most cyberbullying research has focused on middle school and high school students (Crosslin & Golman, 2014). Walker, Sockman, and Koehn (2011) indicated “further research is needed to expand our understanding of cyberbullying at the university level” (p. 37). The emerging studies concerning cyberbullying among college students have largely focused on broad digital settings (e.g., the internet), but there is a sparsity of research focused on cyberbullying on specific technology platforms (Schultz, Heilman, & Hart, 2014). Empirical efforts have also primarily focused on the victim and the bully, but not the cyberbullying bystanders (i.e., witnesses; Schultz et al., 2014).

The current exploratory study was designed to increase understanding regarding cyberbullying among college students with a specific focus on the experience of cyberbullying via social networking sites (SNS). Qualitative methodology was employed to contribute to the notable absence in the literature regarding “actual experiences of cyberbullying” (Rafferty & VanderVen, 2014, p. 365). Paullet and Pinchot (2014) advocated for studying “the problem of cyberbullying more holistically” (p. 68) and consistent with this recommendation we examined direct experiences of cyberbullying victimization in addition to bystander experiences. Finally, college students' perceptions regarding their responsibility when they were bystanders to cyberbullying behaviors on SNS were also examined.

Section snippets

College students and social media

Over the last decade, the percentage of young adults ages 18 to 29-years-old who use SNS has drastically increased from only 9% in 2004 to 89% in 2014 (Duggan, Ellison, Lampe, Lenhart, & Madden, 2015). Facebook continues to be the most commonly used SNS among this age demographic with 71% using Facebook, but young adults also report using Instagram (53%) and Twitter (37%; Duggan et al., 2015). The majority of young adults (92%) also report using SNS that focus on video sharing (e.g., YouTube;

Defining cyberbullying

Frequent internet use has been associated with increased instances of cyberbullying (Balakrishnan, 2015). Cyberbullying definitions vary in research, which has resulted in researchers studying critically different phenomena using the same terminology and ultimately limiting cross-study comparisons (Tokunaga, 2010). Tokunaga (2010) synthesized 25 scholarly definitions of cyberbullying in order to create the following collaborative definition: “Any behaviour performed through electronic media by

Prevalence

Most college students do not have a clear understanding of the term cyberbullying and view the term as “outdated” (Crosslin & Golman, 2014). Given the lack of understanding and acceptance of the term cyberbullying among college students, it is difficult to measure the prevalence of cyberbullying within this population. The prevalence rates are often inconsistent because researchers provide different definitions of cyberbullying to participants (Shultz et al., 2014), resulting in a broad range

Purpose of the current study

Presently, most research on cyberbullying among college students focuses on characteristics of cyberbullies (Gibb & Devereux, 2014), the prevalence of cyberbullying (Macdonald & Roberts-Pittman, 2010), and the negative outcomes for both victims and cyberbullies (Bonanno & Hymel, 2013). Few studies have focused on cyberbullying occurrences on specific platforms (Shultz et al., 2014). Social networking sites are used by the vast majority of young adults (Duggan et al., 2015) and more research is

Sample

The sample included 196 college students (n = 155 females, n = 41 males; mean age = 21 years old). The participants reported their class standing as follows: 29% freshmen, 21% sophomore, 17% junior, and 33% senior. The majority of participants was Caucasian (89%) and reported a single marital status (86%), while fewer reported that they were married (4%) or cohabiting (10%). Students reported living off campus in single student housing (56%), on campus in single student housing (25%), with

Research question 1

College students (n = 196) detailed their conceptualization of what cyberbullying looks like on SNS. Table 1 includes the 16 coding categories that were the basis of the three major themes. Themes are reported in order of prevalence and ages of participants are presented parenthetically to contextualize the results.

Recognizing cyberbullying on SNS. Participants used negative words such as “mean,” “nasty,” “hateful,” “rude,” “inappropriate,” and “foul” in their descriptions of cyberbullying on

Discussion

The current study aimed at identifying the experience of cyberbullying on SNS among college students. Participants reported that cyberbullying does occur on SNS and they provided descriptions of what cyberbullying on SNS looks like. College students who had experienced cyberbullying or had witnessed someone being cyberbullied on SNS described how they responded to the situation. Finally, participants shared their perceptions regarding a bystander's responsibility when they witness cyberbullying

Limitations and conclusions

The current study was not without limitations; the predominately Caucasian and female sample from one university limits the generalizability of the results. University students from other regions and from different ethnicities may have diverse experiences with cyberbullying victimization and bystander behavior on SNS. However, this study contributes to the literature the much needed college student descriptions of actual experiences (Rafferty & VanderVen, 2014) with the phenomenon of

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