Document Type

Closed Project

Publication Date

Winter 2014

Instructor

Tugrul Daim

Course Title

Management of Engineering and Technology

Course Number

ETM 520

Subjects

Cyberbullying -- Effect of social networking technology on, Social networks -- Technological innovations, Cyberbullying -- Prevention

Abstract

The purpose of this research paper is to examine Social Networking across political, economic, social, and technical trends, also known as P.E.S.T. analysis, and to discuss how cyberbullying is enabled through these perspectives. Additionally, we will discuss what actions may be taken by the organizations and social groups to combat cyberbullying. Our methodology is based on the usage of literature review and survey data, which was collected from the local community, to investigate critical factors that enable cyberbullying due to Social Networking technology.

By using P.E.S.T. analysis to evaluate cyberbullying due to Social Networking trends, the following results are established. From the political perspective, public awareness of hazards due to cyberbullying has increased and as a result, lawmakers responded to the unrest of the public opinion by enacting what they thought were appropriate laws against cyberbullying. Our findings show that although the actions by the lawmakers are well-intended they are still not sufficient, especially when the cyberbullying offences take place anonymously online. From the economic perspective, schools where bullying and cyberbullying activity take place are struggling with economic aspects of financing appropriate prevention programs. Furthermore, the financial impact on the society is said to be significant due to the cost of medical treatment for victims of cyberbullying attacks. From the social perspective, the more time people spend online outside traditional face-to-face social interactions, the more evidence of anti-social behavior is evident. Moreover, certain health risks are prone to exist because people spend more time on their computers and less time doing physical activities. Victims of cyberbullying are also known to suffer from anti-social and psychological side effects that may lead to self-harm or in the extreme cases, suicide. From the technical perspective, traditional bullies use Social Networking technology to carry out their malicious attacks anonymously and on a global scale. They tend to rate themselves as Internet experts thus shifting the imbalance of power over their victims.

In conclusion, our solutions to cyberbullying attacks deal with issues revealed by performing thorough P.E.S.T analysis. From the political perspective, the need to have stricter laws may be obvious but these laws must have appropriate provisions to deal with technical challenges of the perpetrators’ online anonymity. From the economical perspective, perhaps Social Networking sites consider sharing the cost of prevention programs in schools or dedicate more financial resources to improve security concerns within their networks. From the social perspective, the need to have better participation from the public organizations is evident. We hope that these organizations will provide resources to improve the chances of victims’ timely recovery due to psychological impacts of cyberbullying. From the technical perspective, schools and parents should consider adopting security software and policies that would level the plain field of technical challenges due to perpetrators’ expert knowledge level of technology for caring out cyberbullying attacks.

Rights

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Comments

This project is only available to students, staff, and faculty of Portland State University

Persistent Identifier

http://archives.pdx.edu/ds/psu/21648

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