Social Media and Cyberbullying in Adolescents

An Investigation on How the Use of Social Media Has Impacted the Rise of Cyberbullying in Adolescents
Amadita Zamora Diana Cantu Norberto Torres Juan Guerrero Management Information Systems 6330, Spring 2012 Dr. Vishal Midha April 30, 2012

Table of Contents
Social Media and Cyberbullying in Adolescents ............................................................... 1 An Investigation on How the Use of Social Media Has Impacted the Rise of Cyberbullying in Adolescents........................................................................................ 1 What is Social Media?...................................................................................................... 3 Social Media: Web 1.0 and Web 2.0 ............................................................................ 5 Cyberbullying and Bullying .............................................................................................. 6 Cyberbullying Videos ................................................................................................... 7 Aims of This Study .......................................................................................................... 8 Questionnaire and Study Design ................................................................................... 8 Procedure..................................................................................................................... 9 Table 1: Participants .................................................................................................... 10 Results............................................................................................................................ 10 Table 2: Adolescents That Own a Cell Phone ............................................................... 10 Table 3: Bullying in School or Circle of Friends ............................................................ 10 Types of Communication Among Adolescents ............................................................. 11
Chart 1: Teens Use of Communication Technology ............................................................................ 12 Table 4: Teens Hourly Use of Technology .......................................................................................... 13

Table 5: Have You Been Bullied? ................................................................................. 14 Table 6: If so, By Whom? ............................................................................................ 15 Table 7: Bullied For How Long? .................................................................................. 16 Table 8: Have You Bullied Others? .............................................................................. 17 Table 9: Whom Have You Bullied? .............................................................................. 18 Chart 2: Cyberbullying Compared to Traditional Bullying ............................................ 19 Chart 3: How Cyberbullying Victims Felt ..................................................................... 20 Discussion ...................................................................................................................... 21 Cyberbullying Data: Victims ........................................................................................ 21 Cyberbulling Data: Offenders ...................................................................................... 22
Social Media and Cyberbullying in Adolescents ii

Gender Differences...................................................................................................... 22 Impact of Cyberbullying .............................................................................................. 23 Use of Technology ...................................................................................................... 23 Suggestions for Future Studies ..................................................................................... 24 Conclusion ..................................................................................................................... 24 Appendix A: Cyberbullying Questionnaire ...................................................................... 25

Social Media and Cyberbullying in Adolescents

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Management Information Systems 6330, Spring 2012 Dr. Vishal Midal April 30, 2012

Amadita Zamora Diana Cantu Norberto Torres Juan Guerrero

Social Media and Cyberbullying in Adolescents

An Investigation on How the Use of Social Media Has Impacted the Rise of Cyberbullying in Adolescents
Abstract Bullying amongst school-aged children has always been an issue, we have all experienced, seen or heard of the lunch money bully and the playground
www.cartoonaday.com

bully. However, bullying in recent times has taken on a new form - cyberbullying. With our continual increase in technology and our desire for faster, easier and instant availability, social media supplies our young people to immediate access to whatever, whenever they want it. These new technologies have become a part of our youth today so much that the ways of communication and even bullying have altered. Bullying is no longer restricted to time, walls, or specific areas but is now at the tip of your fingers. To further study this new bullying through electronic devices, we developed a

Social Media and Cyberbullying in Adolescents

questionnaire to research cyberbullying in adolescents. We say a student is being bullied (cyberbullied) when another student, or several other students: Sends angry, rude, vulgar messages about a person online or to that person via electronic devices Telling lies or spreading false rumors to try to make others dislike him or her Pretending to be someone else and sending or posting material that makes that person look bad Sending or posting information about a person that contains sensitive, private, or embarrassing information The above list is not all-inclusive but rather a snapshot of cyberbullying. Although cyberbullying is a broad term, for this study we narrowed our research to 7 subcategories. The decision to use these subcategories was based on technologies used among adolescents that would help us obtain a better understanding of which social medium is popularly used.
n n

Text Messaging (receiving abusive text messages (SMS) on your mobile phone) Pictures or Video Clips (nude/explicit picture or video-clips, sent to you or sent to others about you) Phone Calls (receiving obscene/upsetting or silent calls on your mobile phone) Email (receiving abusive emails to your email account) Chat Rooms (being bullied in chat room through abusive messages) Instant Messaging (bullying through messages on MSN Messenger, Yahoo messenger, or similar) Social Networking Sites (bullied through Facebook, MySpace, or similar)

n n n n

We will explore the method used on the survey, the participants age, gender, the bullying results, and our discussions or comments to our findings.

Social Media and Cyberbullying in Adolescents

What is Social Media?

According to the Social Media guide there are at least 50 definitions of social media. The definition you receive will depend upon on whom you ask or where you search. Some definitions are as simple as people having conversations online ( Hansh Dabasia) or as complex as social media are online communications in which individuals shift fluidly and flexibly between the role of audience and author. To do this, they use social software that enables anyone without knowledge of coding, to post, comment on, share or mash up content and to form communities around shared interests (ProPR). Still, Merriam Webster defines Social Media as - forms of electronic communication (as Web sites for social networking and microblogging) through which users create online communities to share information, ideas, personal messages, and other content (as videos). Quite simply, social media is an all encompassing electronic communication. In an effort to protect the very young, Congress passed the Childrens Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), which prohibits Web sites from collecting information on children younger than 13 years without parental permission. Because of this, most social media sites official terms of service require a minimum age of 13 years to join. Such popular sites like Facebook, incorporate the COPPA regulations. In adolescents, social media is used as an outlet of communication and as a form of connection. Briana Gerdeman states, social media provides a place for users [teenagers] to vent frustrations whether its a simple bad day or as serious as suicidal thoughts. It allows teenagers to interact and share with friends and family or complete strangers.

Social Media and Cyberbullying in Adolescents

Social media enables teenagers to use blogs, social networking sites like Facebook and microblogs like Twitter, to build virtual communities in an innovative way. The new dynamics of these communities are instantaneous interaction with the covering of anonymity (Sandler). The ability to speak or rather text, with nearly anyone around the world at any time of the day for an unlimited amount of time and have him or her be your friend to boot is a new concept. According to Perri Klass, our children today are utilizing social media to accomplish the eternal goals of adolescent development, which include socializing with peers, investigating the world, trying on identities and establishing independence. However, OKeeffe & Pearson believe that because of their limited capacity for selfregulation and susceptibility to peer pressure, adolescents are at some risk as they navigate and experiment with social media. Recent research indicates that there are frequent online expressions of offline behaviors, such as bullying and clique-forming that have introduced problems such as cyberbullying, privacy issues and sexting. Perhaps social media might be best illustrated rather than explained. Below is a couple of illustrations depicting social media.

<http://videoconferencecenter.org> Social Media and Cyberbullying in Adolescents

<http://www.jodinelson.com> 4

Social Media: Web 1.0 and Web 2.0 Cyberbullying is a new phenomenon due in part by the advancements of social media. The interconnectedness of our new Internet facilitates adolescents to cyberbully. A basic explanation of Web 1.0 is being a one-way passive recipient of information like the interaction we have with our television, now think of Web 2.0 as a party where many people attend some will socialize with strangers, others with friends and some will not participate at all but all have the option to interact (Michele Martin). At a very small scale the party is like the Internet but with no restrictions your friends can be someone you know or a stranger and your audience in essence becomes the world. These advances mean that adolescents have the opportunity to interact and instantly communicate with a large audience enabling them to freely say anything they please. The illustrations below highlight basic differences of Web 1.0 and Web 2.0

JW Schmidt. June 2007. Web 1.0 Elements. Wikiversity. GNU Free Documentation License

JW Schmidt. June 2007. Web 2.0 Elements. Wikiversity. GNU Free Documentation License

Social Media and Cyberbullying in Adolescents

Cyberbullying and Bullying

According to Hinduja & Patchin, Cyberbullying can be defined as willful and repeated harm inflicted through the use of computers, cell phones, and other electronic devices. Key differences between traditional bullying and cyberbullying are the following. ______________________________________________________________________________ Traditional Bullying Cyber Bullying Direct Usually occurs on school grounds Poor relationship with teachers Fear Retribution Physical: Hitting, punching, shoving Verbal: Teasing, Name Calling, Gossip Nonverbal: Use of gestures and exclusions Physical size can play a role Needs an audience Easier to prevent May have respite at home
stopbullying.org

Anonymous Occurs off school grounds Good relationship with teachers Fear Loss of Technology privileges Far under the radar of bullying Emotional reactions: volatile Size does not matter Audience is everywhere & anytime Much harder to prevent No respite anywhere

Cyberbullying can be more widespread and vicious for the following reasons: Electronic forums often lack supervision; personal messages are viewable only by the sender and the recipient. Cyberbullying penetrates the walls of home a place where traditionally victims could seek refuge from other forms of bullying. The Internet is written in ink: publishing of defamatory material about a person on the Internet is extremely difficult to prevent and once it is posted, millions of people can potentially download it before it is removed. Bullies may post victims photos or edited photos like defaming captions or passing victims; faces on nude bodies.

Social Media and Cyberbullying in Adolescents

Cyberbullying Videos The following video is school produced; it is well written and portrayed. Cyberbullying is compared to a virus, one that affects many but sometimes without the victim knowing they are affected. The video emphasizes the use of social media and cyberbullying. THE CYBER BULLYING VIRUS - YouTube
www.youtube.com/watch?v=-5PZ_Bh-M6o5 days ago - 5 min - Uploaded by struttcentral This is a PSA Web Video produced through STRUTT's new social awareness component in their programs for ...

4:40 4:40

The following video is a good example of what cyberbullying would look like if the perpetrators words were out in the open and in front of others. The young girl in the video is reading her messages toward another student, as though it was online when in reality shes publicly belittling the student in an auditorium Talent Show - Cyberbullying Prevention Commercial - YouTube
www.youtube.com/watch?v=bdQBurXQOeQ Dec 3, 2008 - 51 sec - Uploaded by OhioCommissionDRCM From the Ad Council: "Delete Cyberbullying. www.ncpc.org/cyberbullying" For more information about

0:51 0:51

Social Media and Cyberbullying in Adolescents

Aims of This Study

The first aim of this study was to have a general yet better understanding of cyberbullying and its prevalence in the age groups 12-18 years. Since cyberbullying is a relatively new concept, this study aimed to increase the understanding of the concept of cyberbullying. The 7 sub categories included in the study will allow us to evaluate cyberbulllying in more detail. The second aim was to look at whether there were any gender or age differences, or any significant age or gender interactions. Finally, our last aim is to examine awareness generally of different forms of cyerbullying, and the perceived impact on the victim compared to more usual or traditional forms of bullying. Questionnaire and Study Design My teammates and I devised a bully/victim questionnaire with 4 one-answer questions, 16 multiple-choice questions, and 5 chart questions and within each chart 7 additional questions were asked. The last 5 chart questions covered the 7 subcategories of bullying: text messaging, picture or video-clips, phone calls, email, chat rooms, instant messaging, and social networking sites. The questionnaire itself took about 10 minutes to complete. The time frame for this study varied depending upon the question asked; for instance, 14 of the multiple-choice questions asked for in the last month while the 5 chart questions with the 7 subcategories, asked for in the last 3 months, thus the responses reflect those incidents during that time period. To obtain participants, we called and visited various school principals in the deep South Texas region. We explained our study and asked whether they would like to

Social Media and Cyberbullying in Adolescents

participate. Several schools were contacted until we felt we had enough participants for the desired study. In the end, we obtained approval from three schools with a total anticipated student survey count of approximately 325. However, shortly before the permissible date allotted to us, two principals withdrew their approval, as they had changed their minds, fortunately one school district did allow us to proceed as planned.

Procedure
Students were handed the questionnaire, and we read out the instructions. The questionnaire included a cover page explaining who we were, the purpose of the study, it defined cyberbullying, it also described the 7 subcategories of our research (text messaging, picture or video-clips, phone calls, email, chat rooms, instant messaging, and social networking sites), most importantly it advised the pupils that the information collected was confidential and for academic purposes only. Finally, we informed the class of some of the aims of study. Pupils were advised that participation was strictly optional and if they opted not to complete the questionnaire they did not have to. We stressed to the students and teachers that the questionnaires would remain anonymous and that the school would remain anonymous in the report of this research. The total number of questionnaires dispersed was 113 and the total number of returned questionnaires was 101. Out of the 101 collected surveys, 5 were rejected due to inconclusive or incomplete responses, the remaining 96 completed questionnaires serve as the basis of this study.

Social Media and Cyberbullying in Adolescents

Table 1: Participants Table 1 below illustrates the gender and age of the 96 participants that returned a completed questionnaire from one school district. Age 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 Total Boys 2 6 4 18 8 8 8 54 Girls 2 12 8 8 8 2 2 42 Total 4 18 12 26 16 10 10 96

Results
Table 2: Adolescents That Own a Cell Phone Question number 3 on the questionnaire asks the student if they own a cell phone? Boys
Yes, Own a Cell Phone No, Did Not Own a Cell Phone 52 5

Girls
32 7

Table 3: Bullying in School or Circle of Friends Question number 7 asks if bulling takes place in school or with their circle of friends? Boys
Yes, It Takes Place No, Does Not Take Place 50 4

Girls
40 2

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Types of Communication Among Adolescents

Communication
Email

Supporting Electronic Hardware

Computers, cell phones, Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs) Computers, Cell Phones, PDAs

Functions Enabled
Write, store, send, and receive asynchronous messages electronically can include attachments of word documents pictures, audio, and other multimedia files Allows the synchronous exchange of private messages with another user; messages primarily are in text but can include attachments of word documents, pictures, audio, and other multimedia files Short text messages sent using cell phones and wireless hand held devices such as the Sidekick and PDAs Synchronous conversations with more than one user that primarily involve text; can be either public or private Websites where entries are typically displayed in reverse chronological order; entries can be either public or private only for users authorized by the blog owner/author Online sites that allow users to create profiles, public or private, and form a network of friends; allow users to interact with their friends via public and private means such as messages, instant messaging; also allow the posting of user-generated content such as photos and videos ( such as www.facebook.com) Allows users to upload, view, and share video clips (such as www.youtube.com) Allows users to upload, view and share photos ( such as www.Flikr.com); can be either public or private Online games that can be played by large numbers of players simultaneously; the most popular type are the massively multiplayer role playing games (MMORPG) (such as World of War craft & Call of Duty 3) Online simulated 3-d environments inhabited by players who interact with each other via avatars (such as Teen Second Life)

Instant Messaging

Text Messaging Chat Rooms

Cell Phones, PDAs Computers

Blogs

Computers

Social Networking Sites

Computers, Cell Phones

Video Sharing Photo Sharing Massively Multiplier Online Computer Games (MMOG) Virtual Worlds

Computers, Cell Phones, Cameras with wireless capabilities Computers, Cell Phones, Cameras with wireless capabilities Computers

Computers

Kaveri Subrayam and Patricia Greenfield

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Chart 1: Teens Use of Communication Technology

Teens Use of Communication Technology One Month Activity

120 Number of Students 100 80 60 40 20 0 12-18 year olds

Chart 1. Reflects the responses to question 4 on the questionnaire. The question asks in the last month have you? and proceeds to ask each question individually. For example, the first sentence would read In the last month have you used a cell phone? The random sample of the age group surveyed were 12 - 18 year olds from a small to moderate sized school district in the deep south Texas region. The surveyed activities referenced just 30 days or one month of previous activities and the sample size was 96 or N= 96. The questionnaires were handed out and received on the 23rd of April, 2012, this give us activity dates of March 24, 1012 to April 23, 2012.

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Table 4: Teens Hourly Use of Technology

Number of students responding in each category.

1-5 hours 22 8 30 18 20 14 6-10 hours 16 10 10 10 4 2 11+ hours 20 20 14 12 4 28 16 20 20 4 8 30 24 6 4 6 2 2 4 2 8 4 1-2 hours 3-5 hours 6+ hours 1-10 hours 11-20 hours 21+ hours

Cell Phone Internet Twitter You Tube Chat Rooms Photo Sharing Email Social Networking Sites MMOCG Gaming Console Virtual World

2 4 14 4 30 20 22 10 28 18 4 4 10 4 2 2 4 2 10 12 16 12 2

Boys Girls

72 40

30 22

34 36

82 68

16 10

24 12

84 52

14 10

40 12

Table 4. Highlights the extensive use of communication technologies in adolescents by the hours used and the specific gender who used them. This table is in conjunction with Chart 1 above as the questions continue with if yes, for how long? This is to say, the question asks In the last month have you used a cell phone? If yes, for how long?

Social Media and Cyberbullying in Adolescents

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Table 5: Have You Been Bullied? Have you been bullied through any of the following technologies in the last 3 months? If so, how often?
Only once or twice Text Messaging Pictures or VideoClips Phone Calls Email Chat Rooms Instant Messaging Social Networking Site 4 2 1 2 1 2 6 At least once daily Several times weekly Several times monthly No not bullied 92 94 95 94 95 94 90 Other

Number of students responding in each category. Table 5. Depicts the number of cyberbullying victims. The victims indicated what social medium was used to bully them and it also depicts the frequency of the bullying. Some students may have been targeted with more than one medium. Note, that the rate of occurrence is low- all students marked only once or twice. As you can see the social networking sites, such as Facebook, MySpace, and Bebo were used more to cyberbully. The least used were phone calls and chat rooms.

Social Media and Cyberbullying in Adolescents

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Table 6: If so, By Whom? By whom have you been bullied?

Mainly one girl 1 Several girls 2 2 1 1 1 1 2 1 1 1 2 1 Mainly one boy Several boys 1 Both boys and girls Do not know (anonymous) Other

Text Messaging Pictures or Video-Clips Phone Calls Email Chat Rooms Instant Messaging Social Networking Site

Number of students responding in each category. Table 6. Points out the gender of the offenders as it associates with the technology used. Both boys and girls are reported as doing the cyberbullying but girls are noticeably more involved in cyberbullying than the boys.

Social Media and Cyberbullying in Adolescents

15

Table 7: Bullied For How Long? How long has the bullying lasted?
1- 4 Weeks Text Messaging Pictures or VideoClips Phone Calls Email Chat Rooms 2 1 1 2 1 1 - 3 Months 4 6 Months Over 6 Months No not bullied 92 94 95 94 95 94 90 1 1 Other 2 1

Instant 1 Messaging Social Networking 5 Site

Number of students responding in each category. Table 7. Shows the duration of the cyberbullying in accordance to the technology used. Note, that most of the cyberbullying victims have been targeted for 1-4 weeks the rest of the students marked other which we could only presume it means less time than 1-4 weeks as every time bracket after that increases rather than decreases.

Social Media and Cyberbullying in Adolescents

16

Table 8: Have You Bullied Others? Have you bullied OTHERS using any the following technologies in the last 3 months? If so, how often?
Only once or twice Text Messaging Pictures or VideoClips Phone Calls Email Chat Rooms Instant Messaging Social Networking Site 1 1 1 1 At least once daily Several times weekly Several times monthly No not bullied 96 94 95 95 96 96 3 93 Other

Number of students responding in each category. Table 8. Represents those students who in the past three months have cyberbullied others. The table states the frequency of bullying and the technology used to bully. Notice that the social medium preferred is social networking sites, such as Facebook MySpace, and Bebo. Also notice that only one student has been bullied through pictures or video-clips at least once daily.

Social Media and Cyberbullying in Adolescents

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Table 9: Whom Have You Bullied? Whom have you bullied?

Mainly one girl Text Messaging Pictures or VideoClips Phone Calls Email Chat Rooms Instant Messaging Social Networking Site 1 1 1 1 1 1 Several girls Mainly one boy Several boys Both boys and girls Do not know (anonymous) Other

Number of students responding in each category. Table 9. Is in conjunction with Table 8. Remember, Table 8 represents those students who in the past three months have cyberbullied others while, Table 9 represents the gender of those being targeted and the social medium used to bully them.

Social Media and Cyberbullying in Adolescents

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Chart 2: Cyberbullying Compared to Traditional Bullying Question number 5 on the questionnaire asks, do you think cyberbullying compared to normal, traditional, conventional bullying has less of an effect, same effect, more of an effect, or dont know?
Cyberbullying Compared to Traditional Bullying?
25 20 15 10 5 0 Boys Girls

Number of Students

Less of an effect 22 4

Same effect 14 14

More of an effect 8 18

Don't know 10 6

Chart 2. Concentrates on how the students feel about the impact of cyberbullying and conventional bullying. Although most boys and girls agree that bullying has an effect on others, it is interesting to note that the boys believe that cyberbullying has less of an effect than traditional bullying whereas the girls believe cyberbullying has more of an effect than traditional bullying. It is also interesting to point out that exactly the same number of students believe that both cyberbullying and traditional bullying have the same effect. Please keep in mind that the students were asked this question regardless if they had been a victim of cyberbullying or bullying.
Social Media and Cyberbullying in Adolescents 19

Chart 3: How Cyberbullying Victims Felt Question number 6 asks how victims of cyberbullying felt? The students were encouraged to mark all that applied and their responses reflected that. Some students answered multiple emotions while others did not answer at all. The vertical axis represents the number of responses not the number of students.

How Cyberbullying Victims Felt

16 14 Number of Responses 12 10 8 6 4 2 0 Sad Frustrated Angry Embarrassed Scared Not Bothered Boys Girls

Chart 3. Simply asks how the cyberbullied victims felt. We did notice however, that we received more responses to this question than what was given on Table 5, which asks have you been bullied? It is possible that some students were victims in another time frame, as our questionnaire does limit responses to most recent activity, of within the past three months.

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Discussion
Cyberbullying Data: Victims A large proportion of the students, 19%, reported that they had been bullied in some way at least once over the past three months. Bullying by Text Messaging was second highest with 4% of the students stating they had been bullied within the past three months at least once or twice. Of those victims 2% were bullied for a period of 1-4 weeks and 2% were bullied for less than a week. Pictures or Video-Clips were among the least used forms of cyberbullying with 2% of the students reported being bullied only once or twice in the past three months with 1% stating the bullying lasted 1-4 weeks and 1% were bullied a for less than a week. Phone Calls was one the least used were only 1% of students were bullied once or twice in the past three months and 1% were bullied for 1-4 weeks. Emails were used to bully 2% of the students once or twice in the last three months and 2% stated the overall bullying lasted 1-4 weeks. Chat Rooms had 1% of students bullied once or twice in the last three months and 1% were bullied for 1-4 weeks. Instant Messaging had 2% of students being bullied once or twice in the last three months with 1% of students stating the bullying lasted 1-4 weeks and 1% stating they were bullied for less than a week. By far the most used form of cyberbullying was through Social Networking Sites with 6% of students being bullied once or twice in the past three months and another 5% being bullied 1-4 weeks and 1% of students who were bullied for less than a week.

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Cyberbulling Data: Offenders From the students surveyed, a substantial amount of students, 7%, admitted to cyberbullying others within the past three months. Text Messaging, Chat Rooms, and Instant Messaging were not used to cyberbullly. 1% of students used Pictures or Video-Clip technology to cyberbullly others once or twice and another 1% of students bullied others at least once daily in the last three months. 1% of students used Phone Calls to cyberbullly others once or twice in the past three months. 1% of students bullied others through Emails once or twice in the last three months. The Social Networking Sites was used the most with 3% of students utilizing the sites to cyberbullly at least once or twice in the past three months. Gender Differences Based on our questionnaire both boys and girls cyberbullly however, in comparing the students responses we uncovered some interesting findings - girls were significantly more likely to cyberbullly than boys. We found that the victims of cyberbullying were being bullied by both boys and girls where 3% were boys another 3% were both boys and girls but a sizeable 15% were girls. As Table 6 shows, girls involvement in being cyberbullied is much higher than boys, with girls reporting greater victimization through all our 7 subcategories of cyberbullying technologies. In Table 9, both boys and girls were equally targeted at 4% but the boys were slightly higher than girls with 3% while the girls were at 2%. The discrepancy between the genders prompts the need for further research. A closer evaluation is needed to discover if these results are limited to our random sample or if these results reflect particular gender roles in cyberbullying.
Social Media and Cyberbullying in Adolescents 22

Impact of Cyberbullying Bullying has seen a dramatic shift from face to face confrontations to virtually anonymity. In our survey we asked how students felt between traditional bullying and cyberbullying, we also asked how victims of cyberbullying felt. In Chart 2 we must point out the drastic perception between the genders. Males believed cyberbullying had less of an effect whereas the females believed the exact opposite, where cyberbullying had more of an effect than traditional bullying. It is also interesting to note that in Chart 3 more than half the boys were not bothered by cyberbullying and as for the girls most felt angry, frustrated or sad. Use of Technology As explained earlier, the use of electronic technologies among adolescents has evolved into instant mass communication. With the development of Web2.0 the once static Internet has become an interactive playground. As stated on page 11, the most recent forms of electronic communication are email, instant messaging, text messaging, chat rooms, blogs, social networking sites, video sharing, photo sharing, massively multiplier online computer games, and virtual worlds. Chart 1 breaks down the use of all these electronic mediums by the number of students. The most popular are cell phone use and internet use with nearly all participants recently (one month) using them. Table 4 breaks this down further in detail as it takes the 7 subcategories and attaches the number of hours actually used by gender within the surveyed month. Males spent most of their time on the Internet, emails, and social networking sites and the females spent most of their time on email, chat rooms, and the cell phone.
Social Media and Cyberbullying in Adolescents 23

Suggestions for Future Studies As with all research room for trial and error is acceptable. Some questions were spot on while others had the students asking us what it meant. Nonetheless, some of our suggestions for future research are the following:
n n n n

Survey a larger number of participants Do the survey at a time of year that does not affect state testing The gender differences found in cyber victimization Ask for permission from more school officials rather than just the principal

Conclusion
Cyberbullying seems to be a type of bullying that is becoming increasingly prevalent, as the use of technology increases by young people. Previous studies have mainly focused on the frequency of cyberbullying but this study differentiated in that we explored 7 subcategories of cyberbullying and correlating them to the increase of cyberbullying. It found that most cyberbullying was reported on social networking sites more than any other social medium. This study broadened our understanding of cyberbullying through the use of social media, by looking at more detail information. Suggestions for further research have been made, and for a better understanding of cyerbullying to be obtained.

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Appendix A: Cyberbullying Questionnaire

Cyberbullying Questionnaire Hello! The University of Texas at Pan-American, Management Information Systems graduate class is conducting a research on cyberbullying and we would greatly appreciate your cooperation. All information given is confidential; you will not be identified and will be used strictly for academic purposes only. Your answers will NOT be shown to your teachers or classmates. No one in school will know what you answered, so please answer truthfully. We say a student is being bullied (cyberbullied) when another student, or several other students Sends angry, rude, vulgar messages about a person online or to that person via electronic devices Telling lies or spreading false rumors to try to make others dislike him or her Pretending to be someone else and sending or posting material that makes that person look bad Sending or posting information about a person that contains sensitive, private, or embarrassing information In this questionnaire we will concentrate on the 7 most common technologies used in cyberbulling Text Messaging (receiving abusive text messages (SMS) on your mobile phone) Pictures or Video Clips (nude/explicit picture or video-clips, sent to you or sent to others about you) Phone Calls (receiving obscene/upsetting or silent calls on your mobile phone) Email (receiving abusive emails to your email account) Chat Rooms (being bullied in chat room through abusive messages) Instant Messaging (bullying through messages on MSN Messenger, Yahoo messenger, or similar) Social Networking Sites (bullied through Facebook, MySpace, or similar)

Please mark all the answers that apply.

Social Media and Cyberbullying in Adolescents 25

SURVEY 1. What is your age?__________ 2. What is your gender?____M____F 3. Do you own a cell phone? _____Yes _____No 4. In the last month have you
Used a Cell Phone? ___ Yes ___No If yes, for how long?___1-5hours ___6-10hours ___More than 11 hours Used the Internet? ___Yes ___No If yes, how often? ___1-5 hours ___6-10 hours ___More than11 hours Used Microblogs (ex. Twitter)? ___Yes ___No than11 hours If yes, how often? ___1-5 hours ___6-10 hours ___More

Taken Pictures with a Cell Phone? ___Yes ___No If yes, how many? ___1-25___26-49 ___50 or more Sent or received a Text Message? ____Yes ___No If yes, how many? ___1-25 ___26-49___50 or more Used Instant Messaging (ex. Yahoo Messenger)?___Yes ___No If yes, how many in a day? ___1-25 ___2649___50 or more Used Video Sharing (ex. YouTube)? ___Yes ___No If Yes, how often? ___1-2hours ___3-5hours ___More than 6hours Used Chat Rooms? ___Yes ___No If yes, how often? ___1-2hours ___3-5hours ___More than 6hours Used Photo Sharing (ex. Flikr)?___Yes ___No 6hours If yes, how often?___1-2hours ___3-5hours ___More than

Used Email? ___Yes ___No If yes, how often? ___1-2hours ___3-5hours ___More than 6hours Used Social Networking Sites (ex. Facebook)? ___Yes ___No If yes, how often? ___1-10hours ___1120hours ___More than 21 hours Played Massively Multiplier Online Computer Games (ex. Modern Warfare 3)? ___Yes ___No If yes, how often? ___1-10hours ___11-20hours ___More than 21 hours Played on Gaming Console (ex. PlayStation, Xbox)? ___Yes ___No If yes, how often? ___1-10hours ___11-20hours ___More than 21 hours Visited a Virtual World (ex. World of Warcraft, Whyville)? ___Yes ___No ___1-10hours ___11-20hours ___More than 21 hours

5. Do you think cyberbullying compared to normal, traditional, conventional bullying has

___Less of an effect ___Same effect ___More of an effect ___Dont know

6. If you have been cyberbullied how has it made you feel? __ Sad __Frustrated __Angry __Embarrassed __Scared
__Not bothered

7. Have you heard of bullying taking place in your school or circle of friends? ___Yes ___No
Social Media and Cyberbullying in Adolescents 26

8.

Have you been bullied through any of the following technologies in the last 3 months? If so, how often? Only once or twice At least once daily Several times weekly Several times monthly No not bullied Other

Text Messaging Pictures or VideoClips Phone Calls Email Chat Rooms Instant Messaging Social Networking Site

9.

By whom have you been bullied? Mainly one girl Several girls Mainly one boy Several boys Both boys and girls Do not know (anonymous) Other

Text Messaging Pictures or Video-Clips Phone Calls Email Chat Rooms Instant Messaging Social Networking Site

10.

How long has the bullying lasted? 1- 4 Weeks 1 - 3 Months 4 6 Months Over 6 Months No not bullied Other

Text Messaging Pictures or VideoClips

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Phone Calls Email Chat Rooms Instant Messaging Social Networking Site 11. Have you bullied OTHERS using any the following technologies in the last 3 months? If so, how often? Only once or twice Text Messaging Pictures or VideoClips Phone Calls Email Chat Rooms Instant Messaging Social Networking Site 12. Whom have you bullied? Mainly one girl Text Messaging Pictures or VideoClips Phone Calls Email Chat Rooms Instant Messaging Social Networking Site
THANK YOU FOR YOUR HELP!!!

At least once daily

Several times weekly

Several times monthly

No not bullied

Other

Several girls

Mainly one boy

Several boys

Both boys and girls

Do not know (anonymous)

Other

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OKeefe, Gwen S. and Kathleen Clarke Pearson. The impact of Social Media on Children, Adolescents, and Families. American Academy of Pediatrics 127.4 (2011): 800-804 22 March 2012 <http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/127/4/800.full> Sandler, Elana P. Can Social Media Help Prevent Suicide? Psychology Today (2009) 24 March 2012 <http://www.psychologytoday.com> Shapiro, Laura Bullying in the 21st Century. Cartoon. The daily telegraphs Warren Brown. April 30, 2012 < http://thepunch.com> Slonje, Robert and Peter K. Smith. Cyberbullying: Another main type of bullying? Scandinavian Journal of Psychology 49:147-154 (2008) Personality and Social Sciences. Wiley. University of Texas-Pan American. 26 March 2012 2012 <http://www.ezhost.utpa.edu>. Subrahmanyam, Kaveri and Patricia Greenfield. Onine Communication and Adolescent Relationships. The Future of Children 18.1 Children and Electronic Media (2008) 119-146. Online Library. JSTOR. University of Texas Pan American. 26 March 2012 <http://www.jstor.org>. Talent Show. Advertisement. The Ad Council. Dec. 2008 you tube. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bdQBurXQOeQ> The Cyber Bullying Virus. Advertisement. PSA Web Video. March 2012. you tube. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-5PZ_Bh-M6o> Tommassi, Mathew. 50 Definitions of Social Media. The Social Media Guide. 27 March 2012 <http://www.thesocialmediaguide.com> Web1.0 vs Web 2.0 13 . Ruminations of an Online Instructor/MD 13 May 2008. 28 March 2012 <http://www.dryder.edublogs.org> What is Cyber bullying and What Can We Do About It? Online Posting. 21 January 2012. Social Networking. 25 March 2012 <http;//www.whatissocialnetworking.com> What is Social Networking? Online Posting. 21 January 2012. Social Networking. 25 March 2012 <http;//www.whatissocialnetworking.com>

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