Evidence from Research on SNS

These are comments from the actual 2011 research into teen behaviour on SNS sites. Notice how people feel free to write what they like, no matter how cruel, and how this frequently can lead to physical violence. The first statement is about a boy whose Facebook page was full of homophobic messages. "Yeah, and, like, a bunch of people from this school, like, attacked his page and, like, wrote really, really homophobic things on it." Often teens felt bolder, ruder, or more empowered because they did not fear physical violence in the online space. One middle school girl told us that she thought people were ruder online “because you can’t hurt anybody online. You can’t punch nobody through the screen.” MIDDLE SCHOOL GIRL 1. “I think I act ruder to online people. MODERATOR. You act ruder? How come? MIDDLE SCHOOL GIRL 2. Because she doesn’t have to see them, so they can’t beat her up.” For some teens we spoke with – particularly middle school girls – fights and drama on social media flowed back and forth between school, the street, and Facebook, often resulting in physical fights during the in-person portions of the conflict. MIDDLE SCHOOL GIRL: I read what they were talking about online, then I go offline and confront the person who was saying something to her. MIDDLE SCHOOL GIRL: …Like that’s how most people start fighting because that’s how most of the fights in my school happen – because of some Facebook stuff, because of something you post, or like because somebody didn’t like your pictures. One middle school girl detailed the circular flow of conflict between her social network site and her in-person life, and the ways that she, at her mother’s behest, tries to break the cycle. “…the other day, Monday, I was not cool with somebody and so they tried to put on their status something about me. But I didn’t reply to that because my mother told me not to say nothing back because she didn’t want anything more to happen.” She further explains a physical fight she was supposed to have and the ways in which others taunted her offline and online about her allegedly skipping out on the conflict. She describes her attempts to ignore online comments made about her “ducking” the fight, until the taunting escalated to insulting her friend. Again, I would be interested in your comments ?