Anti-Bullying Week - how the Digital Wildfire project tells us more about online bullying

This week is Anti Bullying week in the UK. At the Department of Computer Science, the Digital Wildfire research project is looking into the spread of negative content on social media platforms such as Twitter, Facebook and Snapchat. The project aims to identify opportunities for measures that can reduce the harms caused by negative content whilst keeping the benefits that social media can bring. Project researchers are working with teachers and young people at schools and groups around the country.

Professor Marina Jirotka, the Principal Investigator on the Digital Wildfire project explains,  'The basis for our work with schools is that young people are a particularly vulnerable group on social media. They are vulnerable to harm from others (cyberbullying for example) and also vulnerable to causing harm (for example by posting content they may later regret). We are talking to schools to find out what concerns they have about students’ use of social media and what work they do on e-safety.’

Oxford is leading the project and it is being done in collaboration with the Universities of Cardiff, Warwick and De Montfort.

Read more about the project here http://www.digitalwildfire.org

And more about National Anti-bullying Week here: http://www.anti-bullyingalliance.org.uk/anti-bullying-week/