Anthropology

Cyberbullying

Every day, the majority of US teenagers use the internet. Crimes and offenses against

young people, particularly children and teens, are common. Cyberbullying is among the crimes

majorly done by young people. Cyberbullying is the use of any electronic medium, including

social media, to harass another person to cause harm. It is the online victimization of online and

social media users. Both cyberbullying and common bullying have the same purpose of causing

harm to someone. Bullying entails violent action that distresses the victim. Both cyberbullying

and common bullying intend to disturb victims. Cyberbullying occurs through online interactions

rather than physical encounters causing loneliness, and emotional and mental stress among

children and adolescents.

Cyberbullying is a serious public health issue affecting adolescent’s and children's mental

health (Zhu et al., 2021). There are many forms of intimidation so far that can be executed by

people but as the most affected community are adolescents and children for the overuse of the

internet, thus verbal aggression was the most prevalent form of cyberbullying. Cyberbullying

starts by identifying the need of the targeted person whether male or female and once the

weakness has been recognized, then it will be easy to trap a person with verbal aggression

(Eichelberger, 2014). Most young people commit crimes and offenses after getting access to the

internet on a daily basis (Tokunaga, 2010). Their regular interactions with the content of the

internet world modify their behaviors so much and turn them into aggressive individuals to

execute cyberbullying. Teenagers in urban Vietnam participated in their study, which examined

the experiences and coping mechanisms of cyberbullying, and support mechanisms used

concerning problems with mental health. The research shows that among 484 students, 26.8% of

students felt fear and anxiety, which led them to hate being around people (Ngo et al., 2021).

The long-term use of the internet put stress on the mental as well as physical health of the youth

and thus their attitude and behavior get changed and leading to cyberbullying. Rumination as a

result of cyberbullying is more common among young people who have suffered peer

victimization, and it has been associated with worse mental health (Parris, 2020). Children who

face cyberbullying are more likely to be facing low social support. It has been shown that family

involvement may attenuate some of the links between adolescent psychological troubles and

online bullying experience and observance (Ngo et al., 2021).

Participant observation is important from the perspective of anthropology because

anthropology refers to the study of human behaviors along with their culture, problems, and

societies. Therefore, observing the participants will benefit to understand in real-life

circumstances how human beings feel and what they encounter. In this project, participant

observations have been helpful as I got the chance to communicate with the participants of this

research related to the effects of cyberbullying. I became able to comprehend what the victims of

cyberbullying feel when they are victimized. Later, when readers of anthropology will go

through this research, they will find it easy to understand the effects of cyberbullying as they will

get examples of some real-life victims. The actual studies I conducted employed a qualitative

technique for the study, drawing on ethnography and case study methodologies. Data gathering

was through the use of several approaches. Primarily, I collected data from an interview with one

of the young tik-tokers online in the direct message platform, for a twenty-five minutes session.

Beforehand, I went through many famous pages on Tik-tok, trying to find an influencer at a

young age with a good number of followers. In addition, a good amount of time in my search

was scrolling down in the comments section to get an idea of the type of comments that were

posted. I intended to use this method since it will allow me to connect to a young person who

faces cyberbullying at its most. Once I got an agreement from one of the famous Tik-tokers, I

choose to conduct my interview with her through the same platform. Raising my questions

through the same platform that I intended to ask her about, gives us the flexibility to exchange

offensive comments in her videos from followers, or Tik-Tok users in general.

While I conducted the interview, here are the five questions I asked her that formed the

basis of my research and our conversation.

Question 1: When you encounter the phrase "cyber-bullying," what images or ideas come to

mind?

Question 2: Have you or anybody you know experienced cyberbullying? Can you give an

example?

Question 3: For what reasons do cyberbullies harass others in Tik-tok?

Question 4: In what ways do you find cyberbullying to be problematic? If you were the target of

cyberbullying, what steps would you take to stop it?

Question 5: How different do you think cyberbullies are from those who harass people in the

workplace or at school?

In the first question she provided her feedback as shared; “The term "cyberbullying" refers to

when one or more person uses electronic means such as the internet or mobile phones to harass,

threaten, or otherwise intimidate another person. Hurtful texting or sharing of embarrassing

images online are two examples”. She answers question two by implying that “I am a victim of

cyberbullying. I have experienced it in manners such as the sending, forwarding, or publishing

mean-spirited, demeaning, and abusive comments on my Tik-tok video comment section.” In the

third question, she suggests, "Many of the same factors that lead to traditional bullying also

contribute to the rise of cyberbullying; in fact, the anonymity it provides may make it more

enticing to bullies. In addition, bullies often act out because of issues inside themselves. Bullies

are more likely to suffer from depression and despair and have less enthusiastic family and

friends. As a result, they struggle to keep their feelings and behaviors under control. Her

suggestions to the fourth question are, “Putting such comments down by publishing and

circulating them was humiliating and really hurtful to me. I took various steps to stop

cyberbullying as I was problematic by hurting my mental and emotional well-being. When

necessary, I had to block the online accounts of the bully. I was once being bullied by text and I

considered changing my number. I suggest that one should not respond to cyberbullies; doing so

would encourage the bully's behavior.” In the last question, she replies, “Like face-to-face

bullying, cyberbullying can manifest itself in several different kinds of behaviors and they are all

hurtful to the victim, Acts such as catfishing, impersonation, cyberstalking, trickery and trolling

are just as hurtful as actions of the normal bullying. It's possible that, like with traditional

bullying, the victim of cyberbullying will not come forward for fear of retaliation or because they

are too ashamed to tell anybody.”

In my participant observation with the Tik-toker, I looked into the subject of cyberbullying

through online conversation, to understand their environment. Bullying has been demonstrated to

occur in our daily interactions. From her feedback, it is clear that cyberbullying is a serious issue

and exists even at the lower school level in our society. She experiences the same things I

encountered in my situation, providing a strong understanding of the whole situation. The

comments from the Tik-toker replies clearly illustrate what happens in the social media avenues.

Tik-tok portrays how cyberbullying operates in the typical level of society. Generally, from these

studies, cyberbullying exists among children, adolescents, teenagers, and adults. Currently, a

substantial majority of people are on social media platforms, implying that significant education

on bullying has to be done.

Participant observation has aided in having a clear view of what happens among

adolescents, children, teenagers as well as adults in the society. Comparing previous studies on

cyberbullying has allowed scholars to go further into essential areas of study, including

anthropology and social science. It is simpler to see how a common problem has different

responses and reactions in such instances. This aspect, combined with the fieldwork and

participant observation, helps study the social-cultural aspects of social media users in the

society (Snodgrass et al., 2016). It also helps understand their way of life, in this case, the

Tik-tok and other social media users, which largely contributes to anthropology. Mass education

on the effects of this vice can help reduce and manage cyberbullying. Interactive technology

policies and initiatives are crucial. For a positive change to occur, the whole society should take

a more cooperative approach to dealing with online bullying.

References

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