Social Media: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly - Cyberbullying and SNS Discontinuation

SCT and Behavioral Considerations

Please read the two files attached and talk about them. Two files to read and one paragraph per file so a total of two paragraphs and five questions about the readings. The questions should be talking deeply about how social media is bringing more bad than good. So total 2 paragraphs one for each reading and then 5 questions.

This study responds to a current phenomenon where individuals experience distress and exhaustion caused by cyberbullying and social overload while using social networking sites (SNSs). Social cognitive theory suggests that this phenomenon is caused by the interactive influences of environmental, personal, and behavioral factors, which are key unique drivers of SNS discontinuous usage intentions. This study focuses on how cyberbullying and social overload (environmental) induce distress and SNS exhaustion (personal), thereby affecting an individual’s intention to voluntarily abandon the use of SNSs (behavioral). The purpose model is tested through a sample of 314 SNS users. Empirical results indicate that cyberbullying and social overload exert a considerable impact on distress and SNS exhaustion, both of which further increase users’ intention to discontinue their usage of SNSs. This article concludes with several theoretical and practical contributions, limitations, and future research directions.

In the last decade, social networking sites (SNSs) i.e., Facebook, Twitter, Google+, and Instagram have experienced massive growth across the globe. However, after peaking in 2014, the number of active users of Facebook started to decline (Cannarella and Spechler 2014). In 2011, MySpace, which was the second largest SNS, also faced a decline in the number of its active users (Gehl 2012). To cope with the drop in active users, SNS providers have tried to increase their service quality by introducing new features or motivating more contact between users. However, these strategies have proven ineffective. For example, Facebook introduced new features in 2012, including tagging, mentioning, privacy concerns, and trending, but these additions have not coped with the drop in active users for Facebook. According to a recent survey carried out by Pew Research Center, around 61% of the respondents took a voluntary break from Facebook and 20% totally quit using Facebook because of unnecessary messages, excessive gossip, frequent system updates, and irrelevant information (Rainie et al. 2013). A report published by GlobalWebIndex indicated an 8% drop in active Facebook users in 2014(Cannarella and Spechler 2014). 

SCT and Behavioral Considerations SCT posits that learning emanates in a social perspective with a dynamic and reciprocal interplay of person, environment, and behavior (Bandura 1986). The distinctive function of the SCT is its emphasis on social impact and internal and external social supports. The SCT incorporates in a distinctive way how individuals accumulate and retain certain behaviors. This framework also considers a social environment in which a person performs his/her behavior, which can be influenced by an individual’s characteristics and emotional states. Social environment is also considerable because people express their behaviors, which are actual reflections of a person’s emotions and characteristics.

In academic literature, cyberbullying is discussed as a key psychosocial issue present in the society. Traditional bullying is defined as a violent conduct supposed to cause damage; it is conducted constantly and is defined by imbalance and uneven power (Olweus 1999). Cyberbullying has certain characteristics that make it possibly extra damaging than traditional bullying. Current electronic-based media enable cyberbullying to happen anonymously and spontaneously, reaching a massive audience through asynchronous conversation (Slonje et al. 2013). Any behavior that is consistent with this definition and executed through electronic media by individuals or groups that repetitively converse aggressive or hostile messages projected to cause harm or discomfort to others is called cyberbullying (Tokunaga 2010).

Cyberbullying can take place via instant text messaging, mobile phone calls, emails, online social groups, blogs, gaming sites, personal websites, and SNSs (Kowalski et al. 2012). Cyberbullying, online stalking, and online harassments are common threats and cybercrimes in an online environment (Liao et al. 2017). Acts of cyberbullying on SNSs include:

(a) posting deliberately offensive, hurtful, or threatening messages, status updates, or comments;

(b) making hatred groups;

(c) sharing humiliating pictures; and

(d) removing somebody from events, networks, or chats (Palladino et al. 2015). Cyberbullying can be direct, such as by sending aggressive messages, or indirect, such as sharing embarrassing videos or pictures of victims on SNSs.