Understanding Types of Cyberbullying in an Anonymous Messaging Application

Abstract

The possibility of anonymity and lack of effective ways to identify inappropriate messages have resulted in a significant amount of online interaction data that attempt to harass, bully, or offend the recipient. In this work, we perform a preliminary linguistic study on messages exchanged using one such popular web/smartphone application - -Sarahah, that allows friends to exchange messages anonymously. Since messages exchanged via Sarahah are private, we collect them when the recipient shares it on Twitter. We then perform an analysis of the different kinds of messages exchanged through this application. Our linguistic analysis reveals that a significant number of these messages (∼20%) include inappropriate, hurtful, or profane language intended to embarrass, offend, or bully the recipient. Our analysis helps in understanding the different ways in which anonymous message exchange platforms are used and the different types of bullying present in such exchanges.