YoungMinds Cyberbullying survey

More than 8 in 10 (83%) young people think social media companies should do more to tackle cyberbullying on their platforms, according to a poll by charities YoungMinds and The Children’s Society.The survey of over 1000 people aged 11-25, reveals the extent to which cyberbullying – from receiving threatening messages to having their account hacked – is affecting teenagers and young people.Some 46% said they had experienced threatening, intimidating or nasty messages via social media, email or text and 14% of respondents said they had experienced online bullying in the last month.Further findings include:

• 1 in 5 (20%) young people had experienced personal, private or embarrassing information being shared publicly
• 47% of young people have experienced exclusion from conversations, groups, games and activities online
• 30% of young people have experienced persistent messaging after asking someone to stop
• 40% of young people said that social media had a negative impact on how they feel about themselves
• Over half of young people (59%) had their first accounts at age 12 or under, despite social media platforms having a minimum age of 13.

However, young people still felt positively about social media with 60% saying it had a positive effect on their relationship with their friends.Read the full report and find out more about what action is being taken at the YoungMinds website