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Whether we want to think about it or not, cyberbullying is a continual phenomenon that’s been growing rapidly in recent years. In fact, data suggests that at least 1 in 5 children in America experience some form of bullying each year, with an increasing proportion of this occurring online.
It’s sad to say, but bullying has always been present in some form for many children growing up. However, with such huge upticks in the online presence of younger generations, such bullying is no longer restricted to the playground, with round-the-clock trolling becoming more common and enabling bullies to harass their victims anywhere.
Naturally, such constant harassment takes its toll, with many victims of cyberbullying experiencing heightened levels of stress and anxiety, to say nothing of the impact such bullying can have on their sleep – but are there certain places in the US that are worse for cyberbullying than others?
To find out, we created an index of all 50 US states and ranked them based on social media sentiment data provided by Brandwatch around specific bullying key terms. Not only that, but we then performed the same analysis for every city in the US as well to really narrow down our search.
So, without further ado, here are the worst states and cities for cyberbullying in the US!
The top 5 most trolled states in America
Starting on a state level first, below are the 5 states in America that experience the highest level of cyberbullying overall:
1. Georgia
Sitting in the unenviable first position at the top of our list, our first-place state is Georgia, with the number of cyberbullying-related key terms mentioned on social media across the state in the last year capping out at a staggering 4,571,445 – the fifth highest in our index!
Not only that, but Georgia saw an average of 4,178.9 mentions of cyberbullying-related key terms online per 10,000 residents – the highest of any state. And with a total state population of 9,687,653, that’s no small number.
2. Nevada
Following on from Georgia, we next have Nevada, which saw a substantially lower number of cyberbullying-related terms on social media in the last year compared to the former at 1,000,848 – roughly 3 million less in total.
However, with a much smaller population than Georgia, such cyberbullying key terms appear to have a much greater impact. Indeed, out of the 2,700,551 people living in Nevada, there were roughly 3,706.1 cases of cyberbullying-related key terms per 10,000 residents.
3. Louisiana
For third place, we’re moving south to Louisiana, which held a similar number of cyberbullying-related key terms to Nevada, sitting at a relatively high total of 1,598,351 by the end of the year.
Interestingly, however, the volume of such key terms is higher than that in Nevada, but as Louisiana has a larger population of 4,533,372, the average number of cyberbullying key terms per 10,000 people levels out at 3525.7, meaning local cyberbullying is slightly more dispersed overall and saving Louisiana from a higher spot in our index.
4. Florida
Moving to our fourth-ranked area, we come to one of America’s most populous states – Florida. And with such a large population comes a massive number of cyberbullying-related key terms, 6,224,881 to be precise, which was the third highest out of all states.
But much like Louisiana, Florida is saved from ranking any higher in our index by its substantial population of 18,801,310, which equates the number of cyberbullying key terms per 10,000 to 3310.9.
5. Maryland
Finally, the state with the fifth highest levels of cyberbullying is Maryland, which also had a cyberbullying key term rate on social media in the last year of over 1,000,000 (1,885,953 to be precise).
As with our last three states, Maryland is again spared being placed higher overall due to population size. With 5,773,552 calling this state home, that placed the average number of cyberbullying key terms per 10,000 at 3266.5.
The top 5 US cities for cyber bullying
Dropping down from a state-wide level to a city focus, the following are the top 5 cities in the US with the highest cyberbullying levels:
1. Atlanta
Just as it was the top-ranked state for cyberbullying overall, Georgia’s state capital of Atlanta is the number one city in the US for cases of cyberbullying, seeing 4,012,058 in the last year.
To put this into context, out of the 2,378,958 residents in Atlanta, there were 16,864.8 cases of cyberbullying-related terms per 10,000 residents – a full 6,000 more than the second-place city in our index.
2. Houston
Turning to second place, we move to Houston, Texas. Texas itself, while not appearing in the top 5 for cyberbullying states, did place 6th, and its renowned city of Houston is almost certainly close to the centre of it.
With 2,114,046 cyberbullying-related key terms being used in the last year for a population of 2,007,805, that equates to a sizeable total of 10,529.1 cyberbullying key terms per 10,000 residents.
3. New Orleans
Drifting back to Louisiana, we turn our attention to the beloved city of New Orleans for our third-placed cyberbullying city, where the number of cyberbullying-related key terms only just sits below the population of the city.
For a population of 867,733, New Orleans saw 702,339 uses of varying cyberbullying-related key terms on local social media, which in turn totals 8,094 cyberbullying key terms used per 10,000 residents.
4. Baltimore
Sticking with cities located within the states that made it into our top 5, Baltimore, Maryland, has the honour of being the city with 4th highest levels of cyberbullying-related key terms being used on social media in the last year.
With 1,149,254 cyberbullying terms being used and a population of 1,820,406, Baltimore doesn’t come off as badly as those cities in positions 1-3. However, this still worked out as 6,313 cyberbullying key terms per 10,000 residents.
5. Charlotte
Lastly, we come to another city whose state did not make it into the top 5 for cyberbullying. In fact, North Carolina only placed 23rd overall. And yet, due to high levels of our tracked cyberbullying terms being used, and a lower total population, Charlotte wound up scoring very highly for cyberbullying overall.
Overall, Charlotte saw 550,902 mentions of cyberbullying-related key terms on social media in the last year. And with a population of 995,977, that worked out at a lower (but still high) 5,531.3 key terms per 10,000 people.
How impactful is cyberbullying on sleep?
As we can see from the data provided, cyberbullying is widespread across all American states and cities, and it’s not something that’s going to be going away anytime soon. More importantly, as we’ve already mentioned, continual bullying of this kind can have a serious impact on a child’s sleep.
MattressNextDay CEO and Sleep Expert, Martin Seeley has this to say on the matter:
Among the many detrimental impacts that cyberbullying can have on children, one of the most serious is the increased levels of anxiety it can cause. This in turn can make it that much harder for children to get a good night’s sleep, heightening stress and anxiety levels further and potentially having a detrimental impact on their mental health.
As we keep on hearing (and for good reason), getting enough sleep when young is particularly important, and irregular sleeping patterns can cause severe disruptions in our circadian rhythms and reduce daytime alertness by as much as 32%.
All of this can further exacerbate the stress caused by cyberbullying while also impacting a child’s school and social life, making raising awareness around cyberbullying and its many other impacts crucially important so that we can all sleep more soundly at night.
Help your child sleep better
It’s clear from the data presented that, unless addressed, cyberbullying in America has the potential to become a much bigger problem than it already is. And while there is much you can do to help your child overcome cyberbullying if they’re experiencing it, you should also focus on how to help them get a better night's sleep however possible.
Not only is a high-quality mattress imperative, but learning why teenagers need more sleep can help you notice if your teen seems to be out of their usual sleeping pattern - something that may be triggered by cyberbullying. You can also read about the impact of mental health on sleep, and you should consult with a doctor if you fear your child's mental health is suffering due to a lack of sleep.
Methodology
Using Brandwatch, we analysed words associated with bullying or being mean to reveal where in the US has the most bullies.
Terms used included: "ugly" OR "Fat" OR "Bitch" OR "Your shit" OR "Bully" OR "Dick" OR "Freak" OR "Loser" OR "Wet wipe" OR "idiot" OR "Moron" OR "Weirdo" OR "Nerd" OR "you're shit" OR "Dumb" OR "Bastard" OR "Jerk" OR "Dick Head" OR "Arse Hole".
This data was then divided by population to reveal the average number of comments made online per 10,000 residents.
