The Rise of Anti-Social Behaviour in Social Media

Dr. Hodson was part of a team of researchers from Toronto Metropolitan University who examined anti-social online behavior.

One of the early promises of social media is that it would give voice to the voiceless and turn the world into a utopic connected village. While we are more connected than ever before, in recent years, social media usage has also been linked to a rise in anti-social behaviour online. In the context of this report, antisocial behaviour on social media is defined as any interaction between two or more users that is hateful, harmful, or contrary to the norms of an online community or platform. This can include cyberbullying, hate speech, trolling, doxing (revealing one’s personal information without consent), and spreading disinformation about someone or something. Around the world and here in Canada, users are grappling with the impending normalization of aggressive behaviour, hostility, and toxic discourse in online spaces that demand more precise attention and interventions from policymakers, social media platforms, researchers, and civil society organizations. At the individual level, anti-social behaviour on social media has real-life psychological and emotional consequences for people. At the community and organizational level, anti-social behaviour can impact work performance and relationships, community ties, and lead to stress and burnout. At the societal level, there is a growing concern that some types of antisocial behaviour, such as hate speech, can erode public trust and confidence in democracy itself. This project used survey data, content analysis, and digital ethnography to better understand anti-social behavior on social media.