Instagram Tops Cyber-Bullying according to a research done by anti-bullying charity Ditch The Label. The research also showed how this social media platform is making youngsters more anxious.
Instagram was highlighted as having become the vehicle most used for mean comments.
40% of the youngsters interviewed said they felt bad if nobody liked their selfies whilst 35% said their confidence was directly linked to the number of followers they had.
7% of young social network users said they had been bullied on the Facebook-owned photo app. That compared to a figure of 6% for Facebook itself, 5% for Snapchat and 2% for Twitter and YouTube.
The survey, of more than 10,000 young people aged 12 to 20, suggested that cyber-bullying is widespread, with nearly 70% of youngsters admitting to being abusive towards another person online and 17% claiming to have been bullied online.
One in three said they lived in fear of cyber-bullying, with appearance cited as the most likely topic for abuse. Nearly half (47%) said they wouldn’t discuss bad things in their lives on social media and many offered only an edited version of their lives.
The research also led to the conclusion that there is a trend towards people augmenting their personalities online and not showing the reality. Not only is the internet redefining the climate of bullying, but also it is having clear impacts upon the identity, behaviours and personality of its young users.
These figures only show how children are growing up in a culture of antagonism. Instagram said it encouraged users to report bullying content. They also said they are aware how comments posted by other people can have a big impact. For this reason the have recently invested in new technology to help make Instagram a safe and supportive place.
Using machine learning technology, offensive comments on Instagram are now automatically blocked from appearing on people’s accounts. People have the choice to turn off comments altogether, or make their own lists of banned words or emojis.