Cyber-Abuse (Cyberstalking) - Research on Social Media and Human Communication Online

Cyber-Abuse and Online Social Media Communication

The advent of Web 2.0 and the consequent emergence of social media have irrevocably transformed the nature of human communication, creating social networks which are unprecedentedly broad and divergent from normative, interpersonal relationships in numerous ways. While social media is heralded for affording voice to previously vulnerable populations throughout the global community, it has also been condemned by those who target the media as potentially detrimental to human society, creating conditions through which human relationships are characterized by quantity over quality. More saliently, research on social media has highlighted the ways in which criminal behavior is influenced by online communities, with the ability to create an online identity relatively easily, seek out information on individuals using only very limited information, and facilitate relationships with individuals through social media generating a new and thus dangerous form of criminal stalking behavior. This review of literature focuses on the most popular type of social media in the Western World, namely the famed social networking site Facebook, and a narrow type of cyber-abuse known as cyberstalking. In reviewing the recent and relevant literature on these issues, this inquiry seeks to answer the following research questions using literature review as the methodology:

- What is the changing nature of social media in the twenty-first century?

- How can Facebook be contextualized within the broader social media landscape?

- To what extent is cyberstalking an issue on Facebook, and what populations have been most harmed by this particular type of criminal behavior?

- What recommendations can be made regarding privacy and security issues on Facebook in order to reduce or prevent incidences of cyberstalking on Facebook specifically and on other social media sites more broadly?

- What predictions can be made regarding the future of social media and the implications for cyberstalking behavior in the global community?

Given the relatively recent advent of social media in general and the exponential increase of Facebook's popularity, the research regarding cyberstalking on the social networking site is relatively minimal, which renders this study particularly pertinent to professionals working within the sociological, psychological, and criminological fields.

REVIEW OF LITERATURE

Prior to examination of the literature focusing upon the aforementioned issues, it is crucial to accurately define cyberstalking, as a recently developed behavior which was birthed in parallel with the World Wide Web. There is a wide range of cyber-abusive behaviors, with cyber-bulling receiving the most attention in empirical research due to its impact on younger, vulnerable populations. Piotrowski and Lathrop describe cyberstalking as follows:

Cyberstalking has emerged as a new form of stalking. Cyberstalking is largely viewed as inappropriate, unwanted social exchange behaviors initiated by a perpetrator via online or wireless communication technology and devices. The proliferation of Smart phones and social networking has exacerbated the incidence of cyberstalking, and related cyber-abuse behaviors, over the past 5 years.

The authors cite that the limited research highlighting the nature of cyberstalking has profiled the typical cyberstalker; s/he is educated, tending to perform well academically, over the age of sixteen, and prone to internet addiction. The most typical cyberstalker and cyberstalking victim is a college student, according to Piotrowski and Lathrop, with the researchers highlighting that evidence from nations external to United States borders regarding this type of criminal behavior is very limited. While cyberstalking emerged prior to social media, the role of social media in facilitating cyberstalking is notable. The following section provides a broad overview of social networking sites, affording particular attention to accurately contextualizing Facebook within the broader dimension of social networks.

Understanding Social Networking Sites

While all social networking sites fall under the categorical umbrella of social media, not all forms of social media are social networking sites; these terms are often used inaccurately as interchangeable. Social media can be framed as file-sharing sites such as YouTube or Instagram, micro-blogging sites such as Twitter, community gaming sites such as World of Warcraft, and social networking sites such as MySpace or the far more popular Facebook. Lin et al. cites that Facebook is the most exponentially growing social networking site in the world, with global membership mounting to 500 million from 350 million in less than seven months in 2010. Founded less than one decade ago, Facebook has become a genuine force in human social communication, with behavioral patterns of particular interest to researchers in a wide range of fields.

In conceiving of social networking's impact on the global community, it is critical to highlight the ways in which communication is affected by these networks. Lin et al. cites that Web 2.0 technology permits the creation and fluid exchange of information. User-generated content then allows for communications to be multi-directional in the online space. Lin et al. cites that "because of the intrinsic nature of humans, users are not likely to exhibit a single or simple behavior. Thus, the understanding of features of individual users' behavioral patterns in social media is of immense importance...". Facebook's most important functions are the user's wall, status update, news feed, and notifications, all of which facilitate actions between those who are "friends" on the site.

Lafferman cites that social media cannot be framed as similar to other web-content, as it creates communications which are entirely divergent from those which characterized the internet prior to Web 2.0 technology. Social media is unique, with internal privacy mechanisms one of the key traits of social networking sites such as Facebook; this renders examination of criminal behaviors on these sites particularly pertinent if the sites are simultaneously boasting privacy settings as a key feature and yet facilitating cyberstalking behavior. Lafferman describes these privacy mechanisms in relation to other distinguishing features of social media as follows:

One distinguishing feature is that social media has internal privacy mechanisms. These mechanisms give the user a range of privacy options, from making all of their information publicly available to restricting access to an exclusive group of predetermined users. The ability to limit access on social media differs from the generally open nature of the Internet. While private blogs and web pages may offer this opportunity to users, these forums do not offer another distinguishing social media characteristic: the sheer number of people participating in a structured online community with each user possessing identical web capabilities. The third difference between social media and other Internet platforms is the public expectations of these forums. Many see social media platforms as an extension of their social life in the material world. These three dissimilarities create a unique challenge for applying the public figure doctrine in the social media context.

The evolution of social networking sites has been fueled largely by these distinguishing features, with the exponential growth of Facebook membership during recent years highlighting how Facebook, additionally, diverges from other social networking sites. The following section explores the progression of social networking sites toward their current role in the twenty-first century.

The Progression of Social Networking Sites

Social networking sites have shifted considerably since their inception, marked generally by progression toward significantly greater user membership; this, in turn, has allowed social networks to become integral to political campaigns, large-scale social and political movements in the developed and developing world alike, and the creation of a global community concerned with human rights and sustainability issues. Cocheo asserts that social media's current role in the economic dimension is paramount, with organizations forced to engage regularly in social media in order to sustain competitive advantage. Stuart highlights that while social networking technology has not advanced substantially since the advent of social media in general, it has been the exponentially increasing popularity that has fueled the changing impact had by the media on society; the same author suggests that as millions of users engage in social media, criminal behavior on these sites will continue to increase.

Riedel cites that the conditions which drive internet safety have not evolved at the same rate as social networking's popularity; this has allowed for cyberbullying, cyberstalking, and other incidences of cyber abuse to continue to increase. Like stalking, bullying is a longstanding behavior that has affected human society historically, but the nature of social networks has transformed the ease with which these behaviors are carried out (Riedel). The evidence suggests that twenty-five percent of high school students between 2006 and 2007 knew someone who had been cyber-bullied, with thirty-two percent of the same population admitting to communicating something hurtful on social networks.

Agosto, Forte, and Magee cite that while the evidence regarding the danger of social media for vulnerable populations may be slightly exaggerated, it remains that these environments do require a new form of defensive behavior: "As a whole, research is converging to suggest that although there are indeed privacy and security risks associated with social media use, they are not markedly higher than the risks of most everyday activities in the offline world." The same authors characterize cyberstalking as a falling under the categorical umbrella of cyber-bulling, as do harassment, denigration of character, impersonation, and exclusion. The authors cite that the same protections had by social networking sites such as Facebook against one of these behaviors will impact all of them, with similar social forces behind the behavior itself. Overall, the progression of social networking toward the support of broad, social networks and mounting worldwide membership has created changes in access for criminals to victims. The following section explores the dominant security and privacy concerns relative to Facebook, specifically, affording particular attention to attempts to counter privacy issues.

Facebook Security and Privacy Concerns

Concerns regarding Facebook's security and privacy issues are not new; they surfaced generally in parallel with the advent of the site. Facebook emerged as an effort to promote exclusivity within social networks via Web 2.0 media; this was unique in that other sites such as MySpace allowed broad access to user profiles and very minimal privacy protections. Mathiyalakan, Heilman, and White cite the following as rationale for their examination of privacy issues on Facebook:

Research shows that Facebook profile data tends to mirror the user's actual traits rather than an idealized version of the self. Such usage of Facebook can lead to unwanted information disclosure that can be harmful to the user if proper privacy settings are not used. In effect, a user could share private information such as name, address, contact information, gender, birthdate, views and affiliations with everyone without intending to so.

Facebook's privacy settings permit users to control access to their information, with a common criticism of the site being that default options permit too-open access to user profiles and promote vulnerability for those who do not know how to control their privacy settings.

Ardito cites that privacy settings on Facebook are informed significantly by economic motives, as user preferences, or "likes" are publically available information. Marketing revenue is a substantial profit stream for the site, and the default privacy settings may well be linked to marketing motives. Ardito highlights that several cases of cyber-abuse on Facebook have been linked to information brokers, or those who seek out information regarding people, businesses, and other entities in order to sell the information or data for profit. The following section explores specific cases of cyber-stalking that have been linked to privacy issues on Facebook during recent years.

Cyberstalking Incidences on Facebook

The Association of Independent Information Professionals (AIIP) emerged in 1989, grounding their principles in a code of ethics stipulating that honesty and confidentiality are paramount and no projects should be accepted that compromise the integrity of the profession (Ardito). Prior to the advent of Facebook, the most publicized case of cyberstalking was related to information brokerage, with Remburg v. Docusearch, with the latter party successfully sued after Amy Boyer was cyberstalked by her former high school classmate through Docusearch, an information brokerage company, and shot and killed by her stalker in 1999. O'Brien and Torres cite that Facebook made its most recent changes to privacy settings in 2010 in order to combat the ability of criminals to garner information about users, but these changes have not been particularly effective in combating cyberstalking according to East Carolina University. Hane cites that the recent changes to Facebook's security settings were fueled by a European movement targeting the site's provision of information to businesses for marketing purposes.

ECU cites that Facebook permits cyberstalking through several features despite privacy settings; these include the ability to trace the user easily through status updates. ECU cites that recent cases of cyberstalking have included the posting of sexually offensive images, attaching spyware to emails, and generally tracking victims by becoming "friends" with the victim and using posted information to trace him/her. ECU cites that recent cases include an incidence within which a fifty year-old man was rejected by a young woman, with him retaliating by posting her information garnered through social networks all over the internet. Additionally, a Federal agent was charged with cyberstalking when he made use of a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) database to track the activities of an ex-girlfriend. Finally, a case of cyberstalking on Facebook occurred through which an ex-boyfriend solely used the social network to track his ex-girlfriend and send her continuously threatening messages before posting nude photographs of her.

The National White Collar Crime Center cites that typical cyberstalkers are similar to traditional stalkers in that most are male with mood disorders and histories of substance abuse. Victims are very typically female, with most victims having a history of face-to-face contact with their stalkers. In 2009, Shawn Memarian plead guilty to stalking a woman he had dated for just over one month, with the stalking lasting over two years; during this time, the stalker posted the victim's personal information routinely, citing that she performed sexual favors. In 2012, James Allen used Facebook to demand communication from multiple young women, asserting that if they did not send him nude photos of themselves, he would target their family members maliciously. In most of these instances, Facebook's privacy settings did little to protect the victims, as "messaging" is still allowed from new users and those outside of the "friends" network.

Facebook Features, Security Risks, and Key Recommendations

Posing the greatest security risk are the default privacy settings on Facebook and the ability of "friends" to not actually be members of the individual's social network; the typical user on Facebook has hundreds of friends and very often only knows most of them casually. The cases of cyberstalking have highlighted, additionally, that the messaging capability that is permitted to any Facebook user who does not specifically change his/her privacy settings allows for negative communications to be sent. Mensch and Wilkie cite that security risks on social networking sites will persist, as human advancement in criminal behavior tends to occur more rapidly than security protections against the behavior.

Hane argues that increased regulations must be instilled external to Facebook itself, as the internal mechanisms for accountability and security protections are insufficient. In making recommendations for how to address the most dominant security risks on Facebook and other social media, the same author suggests that it is information access which must be addressed, with significant data on Facebook publically available and thus potentially publically owned.

CONCLUSIONS

In returning to the research questions, the changing nature of social media in the twenty-first century has warranted that security protections be enhanced in order to combat new forms of criminal behavior such as cyberstalking. Facebook is the most popular social networking site in the world, with cyberstalking a growing issue on Facebook, with women and younger populations more frequent victims than other populations. The future of social media depends critically on combating cyberstalking through external and internal regulations, with the default settings on Facebook a particularly salient concern. Underage users should have divergent, mandatory privacy settings from adult users, with readily available information for new users regarding how to report and block unwanted communication.

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