Re-framing and exploring online suicidal games as a specific form of cyberbullying
Review article, 2020

This article discusses online suicide games as a part of cyberbullying with the game called "Blue Whale Challenge"as an empirical case. The three-fold aim is to (i) identify key social mechanisms related to participation and engagement, (ii) discuss the phenomena in a broader sociological and criminological framework, and (iii) compare social mechanisms in BWC with mechanisms in cyberbullying. The analysis was conducted in two steps, firstly a case study based on a combination of media reports and extracts from different social media posts related to BWC was conducted. Secondly, the result from the case study was re-analyzed in relation to key elements identified in cyberbullying, to conclude if and how BWC can be defined as a form of cyberbullying. The results show that BWC can be defined as a specific form of cyberbullying, but victimization is created differently in BWC compared to victimization in cyberbullying.

Social interaction

Suicide

Push-pull factors

Cyberbullying

Victimization

Author

Charlotta Thodelius

Chalmers, Architecture and Civil Engineering, Building Design

International Journal of Criminology and Sociology

19294409 (ISSN)

Vol. 9 231-240

Subject Categories

Sociology (excluding Social work, Social Psychology and Social Anthropology)

Media Studies

Human Aspects of ICT

DOI

10.6000/1929-4409.2020.09.21

More information

Latest update

5/12/2021