Due to these alarming statistics, Persuasive Communication final year students of the School of Communication at Universiti Sains Malaysia organised TalkSpace — a webinar to discuss cyberbullying — as a means to educate Malaysian youth on this important issue.
It was carried out as an active discussion to raise awareness among social media users, particularly youth, about the potential consequences of cyberbullying due to poor social media etiquette.
According to Bernama, one of the guest speakers at the event was a Jessie Yong Tse Shing, a part-time lecturer at Tunku Abdul Rahman University College (TARUC) and a Master’s holder from the School of Communication, Universiti Sains Malaysia, that focuses her research on cyberbullying among youth.
Based on her findings and observations, Jessie shared that such behaviour could be the projection of their own unhappiness due to being deprived of their basic needs.
“According to Glasser’s Choice Theory, these needs are survival, belonging (to love, to be loved, and to be of value), power, freedom, and fun,” she explained to Bernama in an interview.
She added that those with lower rates of global self-worth, social acceptability, and popularity were also likely to engage in cyberbullying, as studies have shown that cyberbullies were often socially incompetent individuals.
Jessie also addressed an issue that is often ignored, which is the importance of providing a safe space for victims of cyberbullying and educating the cyberbullies.