Social Media Incivility: An Investigation of the Trends and Practices among Young Students in Mthatha, Eastern Cape, South Africa

One of the emerging concerns over the growing popularity of social networks amongst young people is the incivility displayed on these platforms. It is now commonly recognised that social networks are now primary sites for youth civic performance. This paper thus examined trends of digital incivility and the experiences of young people in this regard. A mixed methods research design was used for this study, and data was collected using a quantitative survey as well as focus group discussions among young students in Mthatha, Eastern Cape South Africa. The results revealed that insensitive language, deception, hate speech and trolling – are the most common forms of incivility. Stalking and cyberbullying are, however, less common experiences. The results show that social networks reduce public self-awareness amongst young people and drive online civic engagement as some of the participants got positive emotional experiences implying that these practices pose no significant threats to democratic practices. The study observes a growing trend of intolerant discourses amongst young people with some statements bordering on hate speech mostly spurred by the disinhibition effect. The study recommends that there is a need to strengthen digital literacies to reduce. Given the importance of deliberative democracy, the paper argues that strengthening cultural norms of respect of the other, improving digital literacies and the use of available laws where necessary is vital to curb the growing instances of incivility caused by deindividuation and promote digital civic virtues amongst this demographic group scholarship. Keywords: Civility, De-individuation, Disinhibition, Digital citizens.