FYI…Virtual Space Has a Context: Towards an Alternative Frame for Understanding Cyberbullying

Abstract

Whether we like it or not, computer-generated realities are networked into our everyday lives. From simple financial transactions and communicating via email to participation in social networking sites, writing personal blogs, video posting on YouTube and the formation of avatars to navigate online or as new identities for virtual worlds such as Second Life, digital communication and online participation is ubiquitous. The popularity and currency for young people of having an online presence suggests that there is something motivating them to shift their social space and relationships into the virtual. Whilst often these connections or networks offer opportunities for friendships to flourish, they also provide a platform for negative and distressing relationships, sometimes dominated by persistent and aggressive communication — or cyberbullying.