THIS CONTENT IS BROUGHT TO YOU BY NTNU Norwegian University of Science and Technology - read more

Social media is connected to cyberbullying – but not how we thought

Adolescents who are most active on social media are also more often victims of cyberbullying. But the reality is not as simple as that.

The connection between internet use and social media is complicated.

(Stock photo: Shutterstock / NTB)

Steinar Brandslet Steinar Brandslet Steinar Brandslet Journalist

Presented by: Presented by: Presented by: NTNU - Norwegian University of Science and Technology

Published 12 December 2025 - 00:01

Does more social media use make it more likely that adolescents will be cyberbullied?

The answer is both yes and no, according to new research from NTNU.

Researcher Habib Niyaraq Nobakht analysed data from 781 adolescents from Trondheim, in collaboration with professors Lars Wichstrøm and Silje Steinsbekk at the Department of Psychology.

The researchers measured two types of social media use

Self-oriented use: Posting updates and photos on one's own profile.
Other-oriented use: Liking and commenting on other people's posts.

Annonse

The researchers interviewed the adolescents every two years from ages 12 to 18 about their social media use and experiences of cyberbullying.

What the researchers found

“Simply telling adolescents to reduce their social media use is unlikely to prevent cyberbullying,' says researcher Habib Niyaraq Nobakht. — “Simply telling adolescents to reduce their social media use is unlikely to prevent cyberbullying," says researcher Habib Niyaraq Nobakht.

The researchers found that adolescents who, on average, post more updates and photos than their peers report more cyberbullying.

But an adolescent who increases their usual level of posting is not necessarily at increased risk of being cyberbullied in the following years.

Liking and commenting on others’ posts was not significantly related to becoming a victim of cyberbullying.

In summary: Adolescents who are ‘online oversharers’ or ‘postaholics’ are overall at a higher risk of being bullied online.

Practical implications

What are the practical implications of these findings?

“Simply telling adolescents to reduce their social media use is unlikely to prevent cyberbullying. Prevention should focus beyond reducing individual social media posting and move toward structural and social interventions at the platform, policy, and school levels,” says Nobakht.

One example is improving moderation of harmful content and bullying behaviour on social media platforms, he explains.

Another example is initiatives that promote increased knowledge and awareness among adolescents about how they can use social media in ways that are good for themselves and others.

Reference:

Nobakht et al. Longitudinal Relations Between Social Media Use and Cyberbullying Victimization Across Adolescence: Within-Person Effects in a Birth Cohort, Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 2025. DOI: 10.1007/s10964-025-02205-9

———

Annonse

Read the Norwegian version of this article on forskning.no