ROLE OF INSTAGRAM IN THE CYBERBULLYING OF STUDENTS IN MOUNTAIN TOP UNIVERSITY

Abstract

Social media is one of the biggest technological advancements. It has served many purposes and has improved our method of communication and united the world. But it also has its downsides, one of which is cyber bullying. Initially, research focused only on cyberbullying in adolescents and teenagers. There have been a lot of reports on cases and incidents of cyberbullying among secondary school children and younger, but literature has begun to emerge showing that cyberbullying occurs even amongst adults. The purpose of this study is to show the relationship between social media and cyberbullying. The dangers of cyberbullying are presented by focusing on adults who may be more prone to it–celebrities. Celebrity bashing has become a norm in Nigeria, but we may have failed to see it as cyberbullying. 181 Instagram users were surveyed to find out their understanding of cyberbullying which was the first research objective. Also, 20 cyberbullying comments made on Instagram posts of Nigerian celebrities were analyzed to show the themes constantly used in cyberbullying posts on social media. The Uses and Gratification theory is proposed as a theoretical framework in this study to explain why different people choose social media and for what reasons. It also explains why the attributes of social media have become attractive to cyber bullies and the ease with which they can use these platforms to attack and bully celebrities online. The Deindividuation theory shows that the anonymity feature in social media can be used to explain why cyberbullies bully. The survey research design was adopted for the study and the population of the study was Instagram users in Mountain Top University. A total of 140 questionnaires were administered but 134 were retrieved. The respondents were selected using Simple random sample technique and the data obtained from the retrieved questionnaires were analyzed using the statistical package for social sciences (SPSS).Tables were used to aid further understanding and clarity. The researcher found out the respondents make use of Instagram, have been victims of Cyberbullying and has adverse effects on them. It also shows the measures they see as Instagram methods of reducing cyberbullying. The study recommends that researchers can continue the study by using more respondents from other geopolitical zones in the country and Social media policy were advised to be reviewed.