Speaker: Bo Sophia Xiao，University of Hawai’i at Mānoa

Time: July 5th, 2019 14:00-15:00

Venue: Tongji Building Block A Room 208

Abstract:

Online harassment, a cyberbullying behavior, poses serious threat to users and providers of social networking platforms. To mitigate the impact of such harassment, prior research suggests involving bystanders in intervention. While platform providers do offer opportunities for bystanders to aid in prevention efforts through built-in reporting functions intended to combat online harassment, the effectiveness of these efforts in encouraging bystanders’ intervention remains relatively unknown. In this paper, we draw on the bystander intervention framework and reporting literature to develop a research model that explains the underlying mechanisms shaping bystanders’ willingness to use reporting functions offered by platform providers. We tested the model using data gathered from 291 active Facebook users. We found that perceived emergency of the online harassment incident, perceived responsibility to report, perceived self-efficacy in using the built-in reporting functions, and perceived outcome effectiveness of the built-in reporting functions for tackling online harassment exerted significant positive impact on bystanders’ willingness to use platforms’ built-in reporting functions. In contrast, the presence of others discouraged bystanders from using platforms’ built-in reporting functions. Contextual factors derived from the reporting literature — including perceived reporting climate and perceived reporting justice — exerted significant positive influence on bystanders’ assessment of their capability to intervene. Further, confidence in system anonymity positively affected bystanders’ willingness to help. Shedding light on how and why bystanders intervene (or do not intervene) to mitigate online harassment on social networking platforms, this study yields valuable insight into how social network platforms can build safer and more secure environments for all users.

Speaker’s Bio:

Bo Sophia Xiao is an Associate Professor in Information Technology Management at the Shidler College of Business, University of Hawai’i at Mānoa. She has been appointed to the endowed Shidler College Distinguished Associate Professorship. Dr Xiao received her Ph.D. in Management Information Systems from the University of British Columbia. Her primary research interests include human–computer interaction, social media and social networking, dark side of information technology, and healthcare IT. She has published multiple papers in leading peer-reviewed journals including Management Information Systems Quarterly (MISQ), Information Systems Research (ISR), and Decision Support Systems (DSS). Dr. Xiao is currently serving as Associate Editor of MISQ, Associate Editor of Internet Research, Editorial Board Member of the Journal of the Association for Information Systems (JAIS), and Advisory Board Member of Industrial Management and Database Systems. She is serving (or has served) as Guest Co-Editor of the Information Processing & Management Special Issue on “Dark Side of Online Information Behavior”, Guest Co-Editor of the Internet Research Special Issue on “The Sharing Economy”, Guest Associate Editor of the International Journal of Electronic Commerce Special Issue on “Dark-Sides of Digitalization”, Guest Associate Editor of the Information Systems Journal Special Issues on “The Digitization of the Individual” and “Dark Side of IT Use”, Guest Associate Editor of the Decision Support System Special Issue on “Omnichannel Business: Opportunities and Challenges”), and Advisory Board Member of Industrial Management and Database Systems. She has also served as conference program co-chair of International Conference on HCI in Business, Government and Organizations 2018, track co-chair of ICIS 2017, ECIS 2015-2017, PACIS 2016, as well as mini-track co-chair of all the major academic conferences in Information Systems.