Examining the Changes in Bullying Discourse on Reddit: A Comparative Analysis Before and After the COVID-19 Pandemic

Bullying, a type of power abuse, deserves to be addressed, and this study examines bullying-related discussions on Reddit before and after the pandemic to better understand its dynamics during this time. We analyzed 8,720 posts and 21,607 comments from the r/Bullying subreddit using static and dynamic topic modeling (DTM) to understand the major topics discussed in the subreddit. Based on static topic modeling, we discovered that before the COVID-19 pandemic, the topics surrounding bullying focused on bullying in the school context, cyberbullying, and help-seeking, but changed to bullying against minority groups, workplace bullying, relationships and communication, and coping strategies. The long-term impact of bullying has emerged for both periods, implying that more efforts to prevent and combat bullying are needed to reduce the negative impacts throughout an individual's lifecycle. We also discovered that the proportion of cyberbullying/antibullying, negative emotions, and self-esteem increased following the COVID-19 pandemic, according to DTM. Our findings suggest that following the pandemic, victims and places of bullying became more distinct. In addition to the widely studied and disseminated bullying research and policies concerning children at school, more assistance is needed to prevent and assist bullying victims who are racial and religious minorities in various settings.