Executive summary
Cases of negative experiences on Facebook are on the rise hence the need to research on effects of such events with regards to gender. Cyber bullying is an online epidemic for both males and females with the teens being the worst affected since they are the ones who spend a lot of time interacting on Facebook. However, females are prone to incident of cyber bullying more than their male counterparts since the latter engage more in peer harassment. Among the acts that expose ladies to incidences of cyber bullying on Facebook include spreading rumors about someone online, distributing unflattering photos of someone, posting aggressive and harmful comments on the timelines of individuals and accessing someone accounts and causing harm by sending damaging messages and tagging individuals with malicious photos. The study relied on the responses from first year students at the University of Brighton who responded to online questions with the aim of finding out if gender difference has an influence on how individuals respond to negative experiences on Facebook.
Introduction
Negative experiences on Facebook are on the rise hence the need to research on effects of such events with regards to gender. Cyber bullying is among the online epidemics for both males and females with the teens being the worst affected since they are the one who spend more time interacting on Facebook. Ladies are more prone to the effects of negative experiences than their male counterparts considering the fact that women would want to be appreciated and are therefore discouraged by comments that disregard them. The report therefore addresses the question on whether gender difference plays a role in the way individuals respond to negative experience on Facebook.
Literature review on negative online experiences
Cyber bullying through electronic communication is a common practice that has negative effects on the users. Facebook is a key tool used in online communication with users experiencing negative aspects such as comments that leave individuals distressed. The fact is that many fail to adhere to ethical practices of using social media networks such as Facebook hence end up tormenting others with negative experiences that leave users less interested in engaging with friends across social media platforms. The purpose of Facebook is to make relationships more accessible by offering a venue for meeting new people. This implies that it is possible to find someone whom one shares with hobbies and interests such that in the end, it is possible to find a life time partner. It is also important to look for ways through which relationship maintenance could be achieved with Facebook providing an important option in such cases.
Cyber bullying is a common modern practice for both males and females with the teens being the worst affected as they spend many hours interacting on social media. However, females are prone to incident of cyber bullying more than their male counterparts since the latter are the ones who engage more in peer harassment. Among the acts that expose the ladies to incidences of cyber bullying on Facebook include spreading rumors about someone online, distributing unflattering photos of someone, posting aggressive and harmful comments on the timelines of individuals and accessing someone accounts and causing harm by sending damaging messages and tagging individuals with malicious photos. While the bullies may opt for direct attacks, other decide on indirect acts that have silent effects on the victims. Females are affected by cyberbullying more than males such that they tend to show emotions that reflect helplessness, anger, depression, sadness and being scared to the extent that they could be affected wherever they go since they are usually with their mobile phones.
However, a significant number is also able to cope with the situation by dismissing the cyber bullies and referring to the latter as pathetic with no need to spend their valuable time on them. Traditionally, girls have not been perceived as bullies in the society but things seem to have changed with the emergence of social media platforms such as Facebook that provide users with anonymity. This implies that a smaller number of girls is becoming perpetrators of bullying with unique methods of carrying out their bullying. The fact that girls are not as concerned with engaging in physical dominance and that they prefer using language to carry out their cyber bullying makes them victims of cyber bullying across Facebook.
Nevertheless, it is still the females who suffer most from the acts of cyber bullying since the society is still reluctant to change regarding the inferior role of women. This implies that women are most likely to be victims of discriminatory messages on Facebook that make them have the option of quit Facebook. While women and men may both have equal chances of accessing Facebook, the former face a high number of harassments on the internet such that a higher number tend to report incidences of harassments. Teenage girls in spite of them having learn silent ways of engaging in cyber bullying are still the ones who are worst affected by more than teenage boys. Facebook accounts that have feminine usernames receive more threatening messages a day that those that have a masculine user name. When harassed, the perceived role of women in the society does not allow them to respond by threats but rather appear gleeful and unable to counter bullying. While more threats are raised towards women, the latter tend to be overpowered by emotional troubles that affect their normal functioning in the society.
Victimization among teens online is becoming a common practice that needs to be stopped if the society is to prevent the increasing number of young men who are left distressed by the online bullying to the extent that they tend to opt for suicide as the best solution. Incidences of abuses and bullying users have led to Facebook deciding to filter information it feels could have psychological effects of the users. With an increasing number of teenagers relying on social networks to find new friends, it is likely that cases of online bullying could have long term effects on their well-being. The fact that Facebook involves engaging people online implies that users could opt to control their interaction and use of the platforms whenever they feel they are targets of negative experiences.
The users especially females who may be prone to mental torture from the negative experiences need to understand that they are at risk of easily receiving negative comments and responses more so from anonymous individuals who make them distressed and unable to cope with life the way they were before the incidence. It is important for victims of cyber bullying to take on the challenge of negative comments and focus on positive ways to influence their lives in the right direction. It is also important that they learn to acknowledge comments to set a positive tone that in turn impacts on emotional wellbeing of the victims of online bullying. With synonymous friends, the victims could decide to engage the matter offline to determine the events that led to the unwanted comments with an alternative of ignoring some of the comments that may be directed towards discriminating or abusive the users.
Methodology of the research
The research involved first year SASS students taking research module at the University of Brighton. With an online survey preferred, out of the 407 enrolled participants, 263 completed the survey thereby indicating a 65 % response rate. To enable the participants understand the nature of the research, they were taken though a briefing session that provided them with the guidance they required in efforts to make the survey a success. Data was collected through a questionnaire that was constructed in a seminar session with two questions on the demographics and five questions related to the negative experience of Facebook. To enhance higher participants response, closed questions were preferred to the open ended ones with a 10 point Likert scale used to rate the responses provided. Since it was an online research, questionnaires were distributed to the participants through a link on the student central with the participants given the chance to withdrawal in case they felt uncomfortable responding to the questions. Analysis of the data was done using the IBM SPSS statistics software.
Results
The study revealed that a higher number of woman are affected by incidences such as unfriending with the average rank of the former being 105.81% while the mates had an average rank of 88.86 %. The results revealed that females are more exposed to stress when they encounter negative effects on Facebook compared to their male counterparts. While using Facebook, females experience forms of anxiety and moods as they go through photos or messages posted to their timelines. The fact that females rely on Facebook as a way of improving their lives and better themselves makes them vulnerable to the negative experiences that encounter across the platform while females are more immersed on Facebook compared to males, they are the most likely to experience malicious messages and photos that in turn interfere with their reliance on the internet platforms. In most cases, the victims of cyber bullying are forced to desist from using social media platforms since they are emotionally affected by the negative experiences. Some may opt for the option of blocking the perpetrators, others ignore the comments and proceed with their lives as normal while others decide to deal with the mater offline in case they identify and could reach the bullies.
Discussion
Cyber bullying leaves individuals totally overwhelmed such that they tend to develop different feelings depending on the nature of the experience. For women, the incidences of cyber bullying affects their lives and are a common source of distress. Cases of suicide and other self-harm are reported more in women than men such that it is imperative to help the former in overcoming such situations and reducing their worries when using Facebook to interact with friends.
While many believe that a woman’s life is always filed with stress, the negative experiences on Facebook make the situation worse thereby interfering with personal life of the females. With many cultures sexualizing young woman and the fact that majority of women are not afforded the chance to express themselves the same way men do, it is then evident that women are likely to be victims of online harassment more. Even with the suggestions that females should just laugh and log off whenever they experience cyber bullying, it is unlikely that they will be able to avoid psychological trauma associated with the incidence. This means that there is a lot to be done instead of just encouraging the females to ignore cases of cyber bullying and go on with their lives as if nothing happened. Most women embrace social media platforms with the idea that they are to be enveloped with warmth and that the friends they have will make them feel the happiness they desire.
However, one incidence of cyber bullying is enough to chase the user away from visiting the site. While the women may want to be appreciated and have a look at the photos of their friends, they end up being affected by envy such that they are left frustrated and angry with a likelihood of reducing their use of the site. Women would always want to have their physical appearance appreciated such that when they receive few comments, likes and general feedback from their phots, they are left frustrated and hence tend to have a negative experience on Facebook. In extreme case, it is also imperative to ensure that comments from specific users are banned such that the victims of cyber bullying are free to continue using the social networks without fear of being harassed by malicious individuals.
Conclusion
Cyber bullying through electronic communication is a common practice that has negative effects on the users. Facebook is a key tool used in online communication with users experiencing negative aspects such as cyber bulling and negative comments that leave individuals distressed. Incidences of negative experiences on Facebook are on the rise hence the need to research on effects of such events with regards to gender. Cyber bullying is one of recent online epidemics for both males and females with the teens being the worst affected since they are the one who spend a lot of time interacting on social media platforms. Most women embrace social media platforms with the idea that they are to be enveloped with warmth and that the friends they have will make them feel the happiness they desire. However, one incidence of cyber bullying is enough to chase the user away from visiting the site. Females are affected by cyberbullying more than males such that they tend to show emotions that reflect helplessness, anger, depression, sadness and being scared to the extent that they could be affected wherever they go since they are usually with their mobile phones. The fact that girls are not as concerned with engaging in physical dominance and that they prefer using language to carry out their cyber bullying makes them victims of cyber bullying across Facebook. This implies that it is imperative to put in place measures to reduce the rising case of cyber bullying that have adverse effects on the lives of teens especially ladies.
References
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Hinduja, S. & Patchin, J., 2011. Cyberbullying and Sexual Orientation, New York: Cyberbullying Research Center.
Manner, C., Blakley, S. & Lawrence, S., 2011. Understanding the Predictors of Negative Personal Relationship Experiences on Facebook. International Journal of Humanities and Social Science, 1(9), pp. 16-25.
Marcum, C., Higgins, G. & Freiburger, T., 2011. Battle of the sexes: An examination of male and female cyber bullying. International Journal of Cyber Criminology, 6(1), pp. 904-911.
