Relationship between self-disclosure and cyberbullying on SNSs

Abstract

Since many people have used Social Networking Sites (SNSs), benefits and problems of using SNSs appear. One problem is traditional bullying has extended everywhere SNSs can reach, called cyberbullying. Researchers have investigated definitions and types of cyberbullying, but there is a paucity of cyberbullying related to self-disclosure. Self-disclosure is one of main activities users take to connect and interact with many people on SNSs. Through an empirical analysis, this paper investigates three things; the relationship between the frequency of self-disclosure and the victimization experience of cyberbullying, the factors of self-disclosure, and cyberbullying types based on seriousness. Results show that self-disclosure is influenced by self-control and self-esteem. Active self-disclosure affects the victimization experience of cyberbullying. However, passive self-disclosure doesn’t affect the victimization experience of cyberbullying. Moreover, less serious cyberbullying victimization experience affects more serious cyberbullying victimization experience. Furthermore, impersonation, the most serious cyberbullying, is affected by all different types of cyberbullying.