As technology becomes increasingly integrated with our social lives, cyberbullying has become a major concern for many users.
With this in mind, iReach Insights conducted a nationally representative survey of 1,001 adults in Ireland to determine public opinion on cyberbullying.
One in seven adults (15%) has been a victim of cyberbullying, with those aged 18-34 being the most at risk (33%). However, one in three adults (32%) have a close friend or family member who was a victim of cyberbullying.
Of those, 83% listed Facebook as the website where the cyberbullying took place, with Snapchat (48%) and Instagram (27%) coming in as other major sites of cyberbullying.
However, Facebook is ranked as being the site who does the most to tackle the problem of cyberbullying (60%).
86% of people said they would be likely or very likely to tell someone if they were experiencing cyberbullying.
The top two responses beyond telling someone were blocking the person (59%) and reporting to the website/app (56%).
17% of adults have witnessed cyberbullying happening to another person, with females twice as likely (22%) as males (11%) to have witnessed it.
78% said they took action after witnessing this cyberbullying, with the top three actions taken being: 1. Reporting to the website/app (70%), 2. Contacting the victim (42%), and 3. Told someone and asked for advice (40%).
The main reasons people didn’t take action were: 1. Didn’t want to seem nosey (39%), 2. Didn’t want to get involved (32%), and 3. Didn’t want to embarrass the victim (20%).
96% of people think restrictions should be implemented to prevent cyberbullying, with top recommendations being: 1. Social media surveillance (64%), 2. Awareness of cyberbullying in schools (50%), and 3. More reporting facilities (49%).
55% of people believe celebrities and social media personalities have a role to play in preventing cyberbullying.
