Abstract
Social networking sites (SNSs) have become not only a popular source for online social interactions, but also a central focus for cybermobbing activity. While researchers in the Information Systems (IS) field have initiated investigations into cyberbullying occurrences and the associative negative impacts, a theoretical understanding of what drives individuals to participate in cybermobbing, as a form of collective bullying behaviors on SNSs, remains scarce. Specifically, SNSs provide the capability to quickly receive and distribute social information; exposure to such information has substantial impacts on individuals’ attitudes and behaviors, potentially swaying them into joining others to attack a target. Drawing on social impact theory and dual social influence processes, we propose a research model to explain how social forces (as manifested through various social information cues) trigger two social influence processes (namely normative and informational), which in turn, lead individuals to participate in cybermobbing activity on SNSs. The research model will be tested with an online survey study using the structural equation modeling approach. The study is expected to contribute to the growing body of knowledge of cybermobbing on SNSs and provide recommendations for possible interventions.
Recommended Citation
Marshall, April and Chan, Tommy K. H., "Cybermobbing Behaviors on Social Networking Sites: A Social Impact and Dual Social Influences Perspective" (2021). DIGIT 2021 Proceedings. 1.
https://aisel.aisnet.org/digit2021/1
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