On technology against cyberbullying

Abstract

Technology is one of the modalities to regulate anti-social online behavior such as cyberbullying. It is unknown what characteristics of effective technology against cyberbullying are and to what extent existing Internet safety technologies can be expected to protect against cyberbullying. This chapter addresses both these issues, by first proposing a set of desired characteristics from literature on cyberbullying and Internet safety technology and subsequently discussing the expected effectiveness of existing Internet safety technologies based on these characteristics. The results indicate that existing Internet safety technologies are not effective against cyberbullying, mainly because they have been designed for other online risks than cyberbullying. Another way technology can steer behavior is by providing social cues. Additionally, we propose the virtual empathic buddy, an application of this so-called persuasive technology, that provides emotional support and practical advice to victims of cyberbullying as an alternative to existing restrictive technology against cyberbullying.