Cyber-bullying Among Teens

Today, my blog will be about an article titled, "Are social networking sites a source of online harassment for teens?" written by Anirban Senguptaa and Anoshua Chaudhurib, which uses evidence from survey data to determine if social networking sites are the main source of cyber-bullying among teens and what other factors might be contributing to this rising problem. This is a scholarly article based on a number of factors. First, the author's names are present which gives the article some credibility. Also, it is a lengthy article that contains an abstract and an exhaustive list of references. This article has also been peer-reviewed, and seems to appeal to an audience that is affiliated with the academic community.

According to the article, cyber-bullying is growing at a rapid rate. One in three teenagers say they have experienced some sort of online abuse or harassment, and girls are often frequent victims. The article explains how social networking sites are becoming more popular among teenagers, and are causing them to engage in risky behaviors such as posting personal information online and engaging in cyber-bullying. The research presented in this article found that often times, social networking sites cannot take full blame, but rather parental characteristics often determine youth behaviors and outcomes. Since data has otherwise been inclusive for cyber-bullying among teens, a study was done and explained in this article to compare the affects that social networking sites have on cyber-bullying. The study focused on the following questions:

"What kinds of teenagers are most likely to have SNS access?"

"Does SNS access increase the likelihood of being cyber-bullied or harassed?"

"What kind of teenage characteristics and behaviors make them most prone to online abuse"

"What is the impact of parental characteristics and parental controls on teen online abuse?"

In a nutshell, this study found that out of the teenagers aged 12-17 that they surveyed, more than half were frequent social networking site users, about a third had been cyber-bullied, and about 86% had reported posting private information on their sites. The results found that female teenagers were more likely to be cyber-bullied, and those who posted private information online were more likely to be victims of cyber abuse. Also, teenagers who used the Internet away from their parent's watchful eye were 60% more likely to fall victim to cyber-bullying.

The data presented in this article emphasizes the fact that social networking sites are not the full culprit to the cyber-bullying problem. Age, the amount of private information posted online, and parental involvement were all key factors found to play roles in the occurrence of cyber-bullying.

Sources:
http://www.sciencedirect.com.lib-ezproxy.tamu.edu:2048/science/article/pii/S0190740910003208

My Digital Dossier

I would like to come full circle within my blog and revisit the topic of identity. In Born Digital, the authors John Palfrey and Urs Gasser describe a Digital Native's identity as their "Digital Dossier." They define Digital Dossier as everything digital that defines a Digital Native from the very beginning of their existence. This made me think about what my own Digital Dossier would consist of...

I have been contributing to my Digital Dossier since my middle school days when I created my first social networking profile on MySpace. I uploaded pictures of me with my friends and family, commented on friends' photos and profiles, and uploaded videos I made with my friends. All of these things added to my Digital Dossier and my technological identity. As I grew older, I created a Facebook which now contributes to my Digital Dossier daily. Every photo I upload, every status I update, and every link I like makes up who I am in the digital world.

Though I don't consider myself to be "born digital" I do believe that I have grown up digital. As I have grown up and surrounded myself which the Internet and other digital technologies, I have significantly contributed to my Digital Dossier and defined myself as a Digital Native. The concept of the Digital Dossier really encourages you to think about all of the things that contribute to it in your own life.