Michael Derosier

March 24th, 2024

Article Review #2 – Cybercrime Risk Fear Among University Students’ Social Networking Sites: Validity and Reliability

            This article review explains how social networking sites encapsulated humans so much that we tend to rely on these applications for various communication methods, attention seeking, and satisfaction. The risk of being a victim to cybercrime greatly increases whenever you download and install a new social networking application. The rise of cybercrime fears and cybercrime anxiety has greatly increased over the last couple years, especially since the COVID-19 pandemic that reshaped the world in 2020.

            Being dependent on social networking sites can relate to social sciences in many ways. In this case, humans have become more and more dependent on social networking outlets causing them to lack human interaction and even become depressed. This can be studied through the social science of psychology.    Not only are more college and young people scared of being a victim of cybercrimes, but they lack the human interaction many of us got before the pandemic and before technology took over. The study done was a research method based on crime and fear interpretation that shows how personal and societal factors in recent times increase the risk of being afraid of being a victim to cybercrime. A cybercrime risk fear scale questionnaire was also done. The research question here is “Why are people so afraid of cybercrimes?” The answer is simpler than you may think. It is because we are not careful online, lack cyber training in schools, and repeatedly have routine and lifestyle factors that make us have a more of a presence online. Many people these days have more than 3 social networking sites, and the average college student has 5. Two of which are likely for online dating and meet-ups which greatly increase cybercrime activity.

            In class we talked about the use of technology and psychology in module 4. This article can directly relate to this because it proves that the more a user uses social networking sites and technology, the more likely they are to suffer from some form of mental disorder. This can be anxiety, lack of self-control, cyberbullying and victimization, and mood instability. The most marginalized group of people that are affected mostly here are college students. College students are constantly around technology and social networking sites to help them with school, building relationships, and meeting new friends in a new college city they are new at. The study done in this article can have a huge impact on college students and society. It can show the world that we need to be more careful using social networking sites, do more safety training, and even consider cutting back on it every now and then. The article can help future college students and others who suffer from excess social networking use find new ways to adapt in safe, healthier ways of communication in both their personal and professional lives.

References

AbdulnaserA. Fakhrou1, T. R. (2022, June). Cybercrime Risk Fear Among University Students’ Social Networking Sites: Validity and Reliability. Retrieved from Internation Journal of Cyber Criminology: https://cybercrimejournal.com/menuscript/index.php/cybercrimejournal/article/view/75/15