Impacts Of Cyber-Ostracism On Psychological Well-Being: A Systematic Review Of Literature

Abstract

Social media is an integral part of seeking social connections, with functions such as comments, messages, and likes. Similar to face-to-face social interactions, this connection is not always received, and the person who failed to receive the connection they were seeking feels ostracized. Cyber-ostracism refers to ostracism that occurs explicitly online. In this literature review, cyber-ostracism was studied in the ways that it occurs on social media. Furthermore, cyber-ostracism as it relates to psychological well-being was also studied. After conducting a search for relevant literature using the Salem State University online database, nine peerreviewed journal articles were chosen to be included in this review. It was found that social media is used to fulfill needs such as belongingness and self-esteem. When these interactions do not happen, the user’s needs become threatened, and they are left in a vulnerable emotional state.The demographic of people found to be most affected by these threatened needs are adolescents. Social media has a widespread use by today’s society, and that is unlikely to change anytime soon. However, this widespread use calls for further research to be done on cyberostracism as the problem persists and more information may be used to mitigate it.