Social Media Threats and Harassment in a K-12 School District

• In Event: Lightning Talk: Computers, Technology, Social Media, & Radicalization

Abstract

Electronic threats and harassment have become a prominent occurrence in today’s society. With the advent of numerous social media platforms, including Facebook and Twitter, people have become more accessible and vulnerable to harassment (Scalora, 2021). However, little is known about the nature of threatening electronic contacts in an adolescent population, despite this group having the highest reported social media use (Cauberghe et al., 2021). Thus, the current study sought to investigate the problematic social media contacts in a K-12 school district by analyzing 404 threat assessment cases. Results indicated the prevalence of threatening and harassing social media contacts have steadily increased from 20% in 2014 to 38% in 2021. When compared to other forms of contact (i.e., texting, face-to-face statements), social media contacts contained significantly more veiled threats (e.g., “You better watch out.”) and the subject was significantly more likely to have access to weapons. Further, the contacts contained significantly more racist and ideological content, as well as more references to extremist groups, calls for the incitement of violence, and warnings about impending violence (all ps<.05). Notably, social media contacts alone did not predict the subject approaching the target (i.e., coming face-to-face). Management strategies and policy implications will be discussed.

Authors

• Madeline M. Eyer, University of Nebraska - Lincoln

• Patrick T. McGonigal, University of Nebraska - Lincoln

• Elisha Chan, University of Nebraska - Lincoln

• Adam C. Cotton, University of Nebraska - Lincoln

• Jeremy Feiger, University of Nebraska - Lincoln

• Kailey Richner, University of Nebraska - Lincoln

• Mario J. Scalora, University of Nebraska - Lincoln