Abstract

Cyberbullying poses a significant threat to teenagers and young adults, who often seek support and advice online. Little is known about the support and advice shared online for victims of cyberbullying and whether it is helpful. In this study, we used qualitative thematic analysis to examine a sample of 150 TikTok videos that give support or advice for cyberbullying victims. We identify 33 unique pieces of support and advice across 5 categories, with differences in tone and delivery among different types of videos. We then evaluated the quality of 33 unique pieces of cyberbullying advice in a user study with 493 young adults who had prior experiences with cyberbullying. Young adults perceive 97% of the support and advice as comprehensible, 60% as effective, but only 22% as actionable. However, they did identify 6 pieces of advice that are both effective and actionable, as well as 4 types of emotional support strategies that are effective. Our findings illustrate ways in which the TikTok community can provide support to victims of cyberbullying, though it clearly also has some significant drawbacks. We discuss insights from our study that may lead to better support for youth and more constructive spaces for them to connect with each other.

Degree

College and Department

Computational, Mathematical, and Physical Sciences; Computer Science

Rights

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