Beyond the Screen: Examining the Differential Impact of Cyberbullying on Self-Esteem across Online Platforms

Abstract

One of the most vulnerable by-products of the internet technologies and their continuous evolution in recent years, namely cyberbullying, poses increasing threats to people’s mental health and overall well-being. Given the fact that social media has become the most prevalent hot spot in terms of online aggression and bullying with adolescents being one of the key victims and being reliably detected, the research question will address the extent to which cyberbullying on social media sites is different from other online communication tools such as email or gaming platforms. In that way, relying on the analysis of existing studies on cyberbullying epidemiology, phenomenology, and mental health dimensions, this paper will provide the most comprehensive understanding of the digital landscape and its impact on the cyberbullying dynamics, which will, subsequently, will aid in formulating the relevant hypothesis at the later stage of the research. Finally, the paper will briefly describe the results of the questionnaire survey aimed at obtaining the more detailed information with regard to the cyberbullying experiences of the students.