Social Media, Peer-Pressure in Universities and Cyberbullying

Social Media is home to millions of people all around the globe. Recently, due to the surge of the pandemic, the whole of mankind though far away from each other became immensely close due to the power of social media platforms. From quick hacks to videos showing how to be productive in Quarantine took the internet by storm.

Amidst all the chaos, educational institutions flocked to the internet where they encapsulated and reinvented the whole e-learning process from scratch. Though social media platforms in general, have been of immense help throughout this phase of covid-19. According to recent research, there was found to be a 56% increase in cyberbullying cases.

The majority of such cases were reported in people aged between 18–21. It was also reported that people above 18 years of age were at a higher risk of being bullied online. There has also been an increase in cyberbullying incidents among university students due to “peer pressure”; in such cases, name-calling, sending derogatory messages, and anonymous phone calls were found to be the norm.

The mad increase in study load due to the “stay at home” narrative also served its purpose and was found to be the main cause of increased mental pressure in students.

Recently, due to the e-learning environment, many students and teachers alike were unable to adapt to the new setup; which caused them to be at the target of individuals who were using the blessing of anonymity provided due to enormous distance and lack of reach to the said individual as a weapon to harass people online.

To put a stop to such incidents, educational institutions all around the globe have started campaigns to make social media platforms a safe space for students, which is reckoned to be a ray of hope.

I aspire that in such hard times the power of technology will be used wisely and cyber awareness will become the focal point of change in the game of security.