Enhancing online safety: The impact of social media violent content and violence among teens in Illinois

Abstract

The ongoing prevalence and increasing rate of violence in the United States, particularly among teenagers, is a major concern for many families. Numerous incidents of gun-related violence involving teens have been reported. Concurrently, there has been a significant rise in social media usage among teenagers, particularly on platforms like TikTok, where violent content is often consumed. This paper aims to explore the relationship between the consumption of violent media content among teens and the prevalence of aggressive behaviours and violence which might include gun violence, drawing on the social learning theory. To conduct this research, an experiment will be carried out in a laboratory setting with 50 participants who are freshmen at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. These participants will be exposed to various forms of violent content to assess their levels of aggressiveness and attitudes using the Buss-Perry Aggression Questionnaire (BPAQ) following the exposure. It is anticipated that the participants' aggression levels on the BPAQ will be high, thereby supporting the proposed correlations. Consequently, it is imperative to consider utilizing AI technology to enhance algorithms and recommendation systems that can help mitigate the dissemination of gun-related and violent content to teenagers.