Running head: IT'S NOT JUST FOR KIDS: INTERNET ABUSE

It's Not Just For Kids: Internet Abuse

Cyberbullying and Cyberslacking in the Workplace
Tiffany S. Campbell
Bowling Green State University
Problems in Communication Independent Study
TCOM 4900
Dr. Lori Liggett
May 4, 2015

IT'S NOT JUST FOR KIDS: INTERNET ABUSE

It's Not Just For Kids: Internet Abuse

Cyberbullying and Cyberslacking in the Workplace
Technology is fast changing and growing every day and brings the world together.
Navigating through the internet or cyberspace can be a fun and dangerous place. Cyber is a
prefix when addressing computerized activities. Cyber activities are an essential part of society.
Going a day without engaging in cyber activities is almost impossible. Whether checking email,
sending a text message, updating social media sites or sometimes answering a phone call cyber
activities are part of everyday work life.
People know that with great power comes great responsibility. Some people cannot
handle the responsibility or can abuse the power. With this abuse of power and mismanaged
responsibility comes internet abuse. Internet abuse and addiction is changing as fast as
cyberspace.
American Psychiatric Association defined internet addiction by using the Diagnostic and
Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition as the excessive amount online. An
impulse control disorder, internet addiction can lead to other disorders and addictions.
Accredited in 1995, by psychiatrist Ivan K. Goldberg, internet addiction began as a spoof of a
gambling addiction. Starting out as a joke, internet addiction affects 6-14% of the 210 million
internet users in America recorded in 2008 (Fisher & Pancheco, 2009, p. 499). This number has
increased, although the current statistic is not yet known. With the ability to access the internet
anywhere there is no safe place to curb the addiction. This is causing cyber activities to become
more important and problematic.
One of the major problems is internet abuse. Internet abuse is most associated with the
overuse of internet in the workplace. In companies, management also may refer to internet abuse

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as unproductive internet usage in the workplace. Regarding the workplace, internet abuse is on
the deviant use of the internet technology model (DUIT). DUIT is the theoretical model used to
classify cyber activities in the workplace and at the present seeking to give guidelines for
identifying the behaviors (Mahatanankoon, 2006, pp. 156).
Problems in cyberspace are not limited to just children anymore. Using cyberspace is
almost essential for the day to day activities in the workplace. With the internet being used both
at work and on-demand anywhere through new technology, adults are connected just as much if
not more as children and teens. Technology has led to a growth of new concepts affecting adults
in the cyber and work community. This paper discusses two of the trends affecting adults via
internet addiction and internet abuse: cyberbullying and cyberslacking, while referring to the
current research to understand the terms in relation to the workplace and how employers combat
these behaviors.

Defining the Terms

In everyday conversation adult cyberbullying or cyberslacking is not discussed, because
many people do not know, understand, or what is being discussed. Adult bullying is not always
mentioned and when it is, the word used is harassment. When adding cyber to the beginning, it
now becomes a computer-related activity, giving the word unlimited possibilities.
Cyberbullying (CB) whether regarding children or adults is defined the same: use of
information and communication technologies such as email, cell phones, text message, instant
message, personal and online websites, to support deliberate, repeated, and hostile behavior by
individual or group intended to harm others more harmful than traditional bullying, because
the attacks are more intense, frequent, unsuspecting, and difficult to stop (Sabella, 2009, p. 2).

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Since cyberspace has an unlimited reach bullying has become much more dangerous. The
bullying can occur at anytime, anywhere, and with the power of smart devices often.
Cyberbullying has a vast array of audiences and media options to use, that can be anonymous
and hard to track, providing a source of danger.
Another danger cyberspace has offered bullies is a faster, easier way to encourage the
mob mentality, thus turning cyberbullying into cyber-mobbing. Cyber-mobbing is a synonym for
cyberbullying in Germany, but in the United States it is defined in several ways. For this
document cyber-mobbing is defined: cyber-cruelty that involves a group sharing the same
malicious mindset or intent (Garner, 2013).
This definition allows for both bullying out of malice or just a group of people with the
same opinion attacking some, like with Justine Sacco. Sacco, a 30-year PR (public relations)
consultant, shattered by a retweet. Sacco, a former senior director of corporate communications
at IAC, on her way to South Africa tweeted Going to Africa. Hope I dont get AIDS. Just
kidding, Im white! meaning to be funny. After being retweeted by one of her 175 followers,
whom had 1500 followers she became a global figure of hate. She lost her job, her and her
familys reputation, and social life when the members of the Twitter audience mobbed her with
replies. (Ronson, 2015; Waterlow, 2015). Sacco was and sometimes still is viciously assaulted
by thousands of people including fellow co-workers. Giving an illustrating of cyberbullyings
effectiveness and an example of cyberbullying in the workplace. While a lot of the current
research discusses cyberbullying in the work through statistics it is important to consider the real
life implications.
Before elaborating on the subject there is a need to explain and define cyberbullying in
the workplace. CB in the workplace is a somewhat new concept and problem, therefore research

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have done their best to define the ever changing word. Combining the definitions of
cyberbullying (as defined above) and general workplace bullying defined as a situation in which
an employee is systemically exposed to repeated negative treatment from
supervisorscolleagues or subordinatesover a long period of time (cited in Zhang &
Leidner, 2014, p. 1). In the workplace cyberbullying is also synonymous with cyber-harassment
having the added characteristic of offensive and/or obscene material, including those of a sexual
or racial via email; as email is the vast majority of communication in the workplace (Whitty &
Carr, 2006, pp. 2378).
As mentioned much of the information on cyberbullying in the workplace is statistical
and gives surprising numbers of prevalence in the workplace. In a report published in 2012
entitled Punched from the Screen, eight out of ten employees were CB by being ignored,
gossiped about, being degraded, or receiving an offensive email or text (Cyber bullying in the
workplace is on the rise, 2015). Eight out of ten people is an alarming rate, preceding to the
belief that most, if not all have been on both terminals of the bullying, the receiver and giver.
Also, lending to the idea employees are not going as they should be, introducing cyberslacking
into the work.
Cyberslacking as well referred to as cyberloafing (CL) also a very new term that bears no
clear definition. The most common definition refers to CS/CL, the overuse of internet, mobile
technology resources, cyber deviance, and personal use during work hours at the workplace.
There are sources that add the words companies internet, and voluntary acts, to define CS/CL
(Lim & Chen, 2012; Mahatanankoon, 2006; Vitak, Crouse, & Larose, 2011; Whitty & Carr,
2006). A study reported employees spend at least one hour a work day on non-work related
activities which much of it spent on the net. These CS activities range from watching video on

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YouTube to shopping to looking at pornographic materials (Vitak et al., 2011). According to the
office software, a company with software to help companys combat cyber issues in the
workplace, offer that 90% of employees believe the internet can be addictive, 41% admit to
surfing the internet for over three hours per week, 70% of all web traffic to pornography sites
occur during the work hours of 9 am-5 pm, (Productivity Statistics, n.d.). The problem of
pornography in the workplace has become an internal cultural issue according to some cyber and
legal experts, creating a plausible statement why people no longer view it as a fireable offense.
A study was conducted theorizing why employees cyberslack. There were three reasons
mentioned: organizational justice, time abuse, and powerlessness. When an employee thinks they
have been mistreated at work the need for retaliation may come up. For instance, if an employee
undergoes stress or the boss is picking on them, they will do things not included in their job
description to retaliate. This also gives the employee a sense of power in an otherwise powerless
situation. For an entry level clerk or perhaps even a vice president of a company thinks as if they
possess no ability to change or offer any of the goings on within the company the question
becomes why they should do anything at all. The last theory is time abuse or lack of concern for
deadlines. The idea of being late is not a big deal in the grand scheme of things (Blau, Yang, &
Ward-Cook, 2006, pp. 102). This is costing companies a great deal of time, money, and security
issues. In 2006 the United States alone 178$ billion was lost due to cyberslacking (Vitak et al.,
2011, p. 1752).

IT'S NOT JUST FOR KIDS: INTERNET ABUSE

How Companies are fighting against Cyberslacking and Cyberbullying

With the service of companies like the office software, companies are installing
monitoring software. Some software only monitors email, while others require to log in and out
of the data processors. While yet others require passwords to log online. Many companies have
attempted to educate their employees on the dangers of cyberslacking and cyberbullying.
Managers are offering support to their workers with counseling services (Anandarajan &
Simmers, 2004).

More Questions than Answers

Upon looking at all of the current research, while it is apparent cyberbullying and
cyberslacking in the workplace is a growing problem there are however many questions left
unanswered. With the increasing number of personal smart devices how can companies monitor
a personal electronic device? The internet can be accessed from anywhere on these devices
without a wireless connection, companies cannot monitor those. As well many of these devices
offer a personal hotspot allowing for other networking devices to connect to them. Plus there are
free hotspots for people to use or they can buy their own.
How does the rise in telecommuting and virtual jobs influence the results? Many jobs
offer flex time or allow their staff to work from home, when they are using their own internet,
can they be penalized for non-work related activities? Where do mobile workers come in on the
scale? If an employee works from their vehicle, such as outside sales, delivery persons, or repair
people can they be monitored?

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Besides, could cyberslacking have a positive outcome in the work? What are the
emotional ramifications of CB and CS? Manage the emotional demands of employees subject to
the employer?

Conclusion
It appears the use of the internet for work is inevitable, causing more and more problems
in the workplace. Companies are losing billions, staff is slacking off, causing arise in bullying,
and people are becoming addicted. The issues of cyberbullying and cyberslacking are still in
their infancy stage and the real influences are not yet recognized. The researchers all agree more
research is required. However, this paper has shown the real life implications of how adults are
not immune to cyberbullying. It has also shown adults are a major component of how
cyberslacking became an issue. Also, proving more people need to be informed of the topics and
the issues they cause. As technology continues to change the workplace will need to keep up.

IT'S NOT JUST FOR KIDS: INTERNET ABUSE

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