Cyberbullying via social media among students at Sirte University: A field study

Abstract

The study aimed to reveal the nature of the spread of cyberbullying through social media among a sample of students at Sirte University, the manifestations of cyberbullying circulating among Sirte University students through social media, the most important reasons that drive students to cyberbully their colleagues, and what are the most important (personal - societal) procedures used by the respondents in the event that they are exposed to cyberbullying? The researcher used the descriptive method and relied on the questionnaire as a tool to collect data from (155) male and female students at Sirte University. It was found that 70% of the respondents do not experience cyberbullying, and that 43.4% of those who experienced cyberbullying did so through commenting on posts. It was also found that ridicule, mockery, and threats are the most widespread forms of cyberbullying among the respondents. Family and parenting style were among the most important reasons behind students bullying their peers, followed by psychological reasons in second place. Most of the respondents resort to self-measures when they are subjected to cyberbullying.