Flemington, NJ, May 28, 2009 – A new national media study among 302 female viewers of a news clip which featured a mother and her daughter who was a victim in a cyber bullying incident in Washington revealed that most (93%) respondents feel that video sharing sites like YouTube should have policies in place that prevent the posting of cyber bulling videos. While YouTube is open to the public and content can be shared on almost any topic, the majority still feel that this freedom should be limited and monitored specifically to prevent online cyber bullying.
The study was conducted by the MediaCurves.com® website on May 27, to obtain females’ perceptions of cyber bullying and the current policies that YouTube and other video sharing sites have in place for monitoring user generated content.
The majority (83%) of respondents also agreed that YouTube and other video sharing websites should allow both members and non-members to “flag” videos that they feel are inappropriate for public view. YouTube’s current policy does not allow for non-members of the site to “flag” videos (which is a feature that allows members to report a specific video which they feel is inappropriate or offensive).
Among the findings:
“Do you think YouTube and other social media websites (that feature user generated video) should have policies in place that prevent posting of cyber bullying videos or is this a violation of freedom of speech?”
|
|
Total Females |
|
Yes, they should have policies in place that prevent cyber bullying |
93% |
|
No, this is a violation of freedom of speech |
7% |
“This specific online video was posted on the video sharing web site, YouTube. YouTube’s current policy is that non-members are unable to “flag” videos (which is a feature that allows members to report a specific video which they feel is inappropriate or offensive). Do you think YouTube and other sites like YouTube should allow people who are not members of the site to “flag” a video when they consider it to be inappropriate or offensive for public view?”
|
|
Total Females |
|
Yes |
83% |
|
No |
17% |
While viewing the video clip, participants indicated their levels of agreeability by moving their mouse from left to right on a continuum. The responses were recorded in quarter-second intervals and reported in the form of curves. The participants were also asked to respond to post-viewing questions.
About MediaCurves.com
MediaCurves.com® (www.mediacurves.com) is a media measurement website that provides the media and general public with a venue to view Americans’ perceptions of popular and controversial media events and advertisements. MediaCurves.com is a service of HCD Research, a communications research company headquartered in Flemington, NJ. The company's services include traditional and web-based communications research. For additional information on HCD Research, access the company’s web site at www.hcdi.net or call HCD Research at 908-788-9393.
Editors/Reporters: For more information on the study, or to speak with Glenn Kessler, president and CEO, HCD Research, please contact Vince McGourty, HCD Research, at (908) 483-9121 or (vince.mcgourty@hcdi.net). You can also receive updates from MediaCurves.com by following us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/mediacurves.
The computer, while not a babysitter, is also not an acceptable media for bullying. Freedom of expression should not cover bullying, and these kids, and many adults, need to learn that just because it's easy to hide in the anonymity of the internet does not make cruelty ok.
And if parents are NOT going to teach their kids to act with human decency, then yes, the schools and the sheriff's department (in this case) needs to step in. It has nothing to do with "blaming it on the internet."