Prevention of Cyberbullying in Social Media: Perspective of Female Entrepreneurs in Bangladesh.

Abstract

In recent years social media is a very popular platform for any kind of business. During the pandemic, it became even more trendy for small business owners who run businesses from home. Particularly in developing countries like Bangladesh where socially and culturally women face a lot of obstacles to doing business. The number of female entrepreneurs in Bangladesh is growing day by day as this is an opportunity for them to earn and support their families. Initially, they prefer social media for their business platform because there is no need for business premises, and it is easy to target a large number of customers in a short period of time. While the prospect of female entrepreneurship is bright for this country, they are encountering cyberbullying on social media by some ill-minded people. This paper aims to find out how female entrepreneurs in Bangladesh experience and can prevent cyberbullying on social media. This is exploratory research. Qualitative data were collected through an online semi-structured interview method by using open-ended questions. Data were analysed thematically based on different codes and themes by using NVivo 12 software. The result shows how female entrepreneurs get cyberbullied on social media in this country. It also recommends some preventive actions that female entrepreneurs can exercise to protect themselves from cyberbullying while operating their businesses on social media.

Keywords: Cyberbullying, Social Media, Female Entrepreneur, Bangladesh

DOI: 10.54941/ahfe1002956