The Prevalence of Digital Violence Among Turkish University Students and the Awareness of Combatting Methods
Chapter from the book:
Göngen,
M.
A.
(ed.)
2023.
Digital Media Studies.
Synopsis
Digital violence, as well as offline violence, is a concept that has become a research problem in the international literature. Characterizing the prevalence of exposure to digital violence among university students, especially those who use digital platforms intensively, and quantitatively measuring the prevalence of literacy against combat methods is a public benefit and provides up-to-date data for relevant stakeholders to implement action plans. While the studies and research focus on exposure to digital violence, this research aims to fill the gap in the literature by examining young people's awareness and usage attitudes on methods of protection and combat, as well as their experiences of digital violence. This study aims to categorize the digital violence experiences of students (18-23 years old) at a private university in Turkey, the prevalence of exposure to digital violence and combat methods, and to measure literacy about combat methods. In the online survey conducted with 111 Kadir Has University undergraduate students using convenience sampling, how often students were exposed to digital violence, how they were affected, and online and offline combat and protection methods were investigated. Findings show that exposure to digital violence is not common in our university student sample, does not differ according to gender and other sociodemographic variables, and awareness of online safety and combat methods is common.