This presentation Seeks to discuss the relationship between Social Media cyberbullying and suicide in teens

1. SOCIAL MEDIA SUICIDE
RELATING CYBERBULLYINGTOTHE GROWING NUMBERSOFTEEN SUICIDE
INTHE U.S.
ColtWakefield, Undergrad
Written for a Computer-MediatedCommunication course at the University of Nebraska at Omaha

2. Social Media:The Growing Medium
■ Technology development to facilitate communication over great distances is nothing
new but the scope and the richness that is now achieved is very new.
– Carrier pigeon
– Phonecalls
– Twitter post
■ Teens are now using social media as their first mode of communication and 90% of
teens are daily partaking in social media communication.
– Teens today are utilizing Instagram, Facebook,Youtube, Snapchat, andTikTok for
the majority of their communication.
– Phone calls and even text messages have taken a back seat.
– The tools through which we communicate, their capabilities, and drawback have a
large and lasting impact on how we relate to others.
– How we relate to others impacts the way we live.

3. Cyberbullying:The Growing Issue
■ Bullying is essentially the same as regular bullying only done using technology as the
medium
– Phone calls
– Emails
– Social Media Posts
■ Specifically bullying through social media provides many positive effects for
cyberbullies.
– Perceived anonymity
– PeerWitnesses
– Peer Involvement
■ The concern for cyberbullying is widely known by parents, schools, and law
enforcement
– Parents list bullying as their #1 concern in their kids lives and internet safety as #4

4. Teen Suicide:The Growing Effect
■ Suicide ideation and attempts have increased drastically within the last few decades
especially in teens
– Suicide is the second largest cause of death among Americans ages 10-24
– Hospitals treating teens for suicide ideation or attempt have increased nearly 300%
in just 7 years
■ Teens are at great risk of suicide due to their susceptible stage in development
– Teens are still neurologically developing and some functions have not fully
developed
– The hormones brought on by puberty greatly influences decision making

5. Relating Effects of Cyberbullying to CMC
■ Communication through the medium of technology and the internet.
■ ImplicationsApproach: Developed Identities online affect identities in life.
– Proteus Effect
– Separate identities developed online influence a person’s cognitions, relationships,
and social behavior.
– Behavioral conformity and behavioral compensation
■ OnlineAnonymity
– Individuals perceived anonymity is a large predictor of cyberbullying behavior
– Maintaining successful anonymity one may lead to further cyberbullying

6. Social Media, Cyberbullying, and Suicide
■ Proteus effect
– Strong relationship between online identities and real world actions
■ Perceived Anonymity
– Strong predictor of cyberbullying behaviors
■ Publicity and Public Shaming
– Increase risk of the effects of cyberbullying due to the peer witnessing and
involvement
– Social media also stores content thus can have victims relive their trama

7. WhatThis Means
■ This means that the future generations are at risk of being one of the most suicide
prone generations in history.
■ Education
– Online safety and risk assessment
– How to deal with the Proteus effect
– School safeguards
– Consequences of cyberbullying both to the victim and the culprit
■ Social Media sites cracking down and minimizing risk
– Zero tolerance policies
– Anonymity overrides to catch cyberbullies

8. Research Questions
■ RQ1: Does cyberbullying through social media sites increase the likelihood of suicide
in teens in comparison to other forms of cyberbullying?
■ RQ2: Does the amount of time spent on social media sites increase the likelihood of a
teen being victimized by cyberbullying?
■ RQ3:Are there differences between the use of Instagram,YouTube,Twitter, Facebook,
Snapchat, orTikTok as they relate to cyberbullying or suicide?
■ RQ4:What forms of intervention can be taken to reduce cyberbullying among teens?

9. References
■ Anderson & Jiang, 2018
■ Anderson, 2018
■ Center for DiseaseControl and
Prevention, 2019
■ Geel,Vedder, &Tanilon, 2014
■ Plemmons, et al, 2018
■ Bartlett, Gentile, & Chew, 2016
■ Sherblom, 2020
■ Simpson, 2002
■ C.S. Mott Children's Hospital, 2015
■ Have, et al, 2009
■ Hinduja & Patchin, 2019
■ John, et al, 2018