Auto-trolling, self-cyberbullying, digital Munchausen or digital self-harm is a form of self-abuse on the Internet.[2][3] It is usually done by teenagers posting fake insults on social media, attacking themselves to elicit attention and sympathy.[2] A study in 2012 found that about 35 per cent of those who did this felt better.[2][1] Studies in 2016 and 2019 found an increase in prevalence in American adolescents rising from 6 to 9 per cent.[3][4][5] In a 2011 study, boys were more likely than girls to admit to digital self-bullying.[6] In a 2022 study published by researchers Justin Patchin, Sameer Hinduja, and Ryan Meldrum,[7] US youth who engaged in digital self-harm were between five and seven times more likely to have considered suicide and between nine and fifteen times more likely to have attempted suicide.
In the UK, a woman was cautioned in 2009 for trolling herself on Facebook and then jailed for 20 months for repeat offences during 2011–12.[8]
Though digital self-harm can be done in various ways, it is usually done in a public or semi-public setting.[9] Researchers Rinjani Soengkoeng and Ahmed Moustafa suggest that there are three types of digital self-harm.[10] These are:
These appear to be common reasons for digital self harm according to Sameer Hinduja and Justin W. Patchin's 2017 study of American middle and high school students.[11]
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