Structure/Outline:
1. What is Cyberostracism, and what is ostracism in general, how to measure it
Definition of Ostracism: Social exclusion in which a person is ignored or excluded by others. This can have several different reasons for happening, including a way of ‘harmless’ punishment by others, different physical appearance, and different ideas/norms etc.
Definition of Cyberostracism: Feeling ignored, excluded, or marginalized in online settings. Like not receiving replies on social networks, not being tagged in photos, or being left out of group chats. This is important because in recent situations, online communities are important parts of (almost) everyone’s social life. Therefore, being excluded from these online communities can lead to mental health problems that significantly and negatively affect people’s life qualities.
Measuring Ostracism: One really good example of measurement of cyberostracism is the Cyberball game experiment, which simulates the situation of having a participant not receive the virtual ball from others.
Another tool is the Cyberostracism Scale, a 14-item questionnaire measuring online exclusion across three factors (direct exclusion, indirect exclusion, being ignored), which has shown good reliability in assessing one’s experience of being ostracized online.