The relationship between online activities, netiquette and cyberbullying

a r t i c l e i n f o While cyberbullying shares characteristics with face-to-face bullying, there is a uniqueness of online interaction that makes it more pervasive and the impact longer-lasting. Cyberbullying should be understood within a broader context of online activities and how adolescents perceive of what is permissible in the online space. This study investigated the relationship between levels of online activities and cyberbullying behavior, while examining the moderating impact of netiquette. Communication with parents, age, gender and location were also considered. A face-to-face survey was conducted on a nationally representative sample of 12 to 15 year-old adolescents (N = 1200) in South Korea during April and May, 2013. The results show that frequent users of the Internet and SNS are more likely to engage in, become victims of and witness cyberbullying behavior. On the other hand, studying online, netiquette, and communication time with parents were negatively correlated to cyberbullying behavior. Knowing the mechanism of social interaction online and the awareness about the consequences of their behavior are important factors that shape young people's online behavior. This suggests that a more proactive approach to prevent and mitigate negative behavior online is needed. The results add to the knowledge that informs cyberbullying prevention methods. Cyberbullying and traditional bullying share some commonalities in that they start occurring during adolescence, are aggressive behaviors towards someone perceived as weaker, and involves peer group interaction. However, there are some unique characteristics of cyberbullying that are linked to young people's on-line behavior and their perception about the online world that differentiates it from face-to-face bullying. Adolescents spend an enormous amount of time online, engaging in various activities and interacting with other people, which has become an essential part of their everyday lives. Cyberbullying can be understood within the context of these online activities As the time spent online increases, so do the risks and opportunities adolescents encounter (see Livingstone & Helsper, 2010). If we limit adolescents' use of the Internet, then it may reduce the benefits as well as the risks. Instead of trying to stop what young people encounter online, we need a proactive approach that equips them with the ability to filter and alleviate the impact of negative content. Borrowing insights from research on traditional bullying as well as Internet research, this study investigated factors that are related to cyberbullying and suggested ways to reduce cyberbullying behavior. Misbehavior such …