Websites featuring appearance-focused content are a medium for constant appearance comparisons, addiction and pressure to meet existing beauty-ideals. This study investigated a sample of 264 males and females who use appearance-focused websites, with a view to determining the relationship with appearance dissatisfaction and self-worth. Data collection involved posting links to online questionnaires on popular social networking sites. Internet appearance exposure was found to correlate with a greater drive for thinness in females, suggesting that exposure to the thin-ideal body images presented online reinforces women's desire to achieve the cultural expectations of body shape and weight. Furthermore the study highlighted that internet addiction was associated with a drive for thinness and low self-esteem in both males and females, with differences exhibited in regards to body-esteem. These findings emphasise the need for pathological internet use to be incorporated into media literacy programs and to encourage a critical stance toward current beauty standards.

Victims of online abuse suffer measurable negative effects equivalent to survivors of traumas such as bombings and sexual assaults but it has been suggested that the general population view such online behaviour as acceptable, with victims consequently receiving little support. This is an issue of increasing import as the number and accessibility of online communication apps, and their incorporation into our everyday lives, increases the opportunity for Deviant Online Behaviours (DOBs) to be perpetrated. In order to better understand individuals' attitudes to specific DOBs 118 psychology undergraduate students rated 11 examples of DOBs on a scale of severity. Individual difference measures of online cognitions and interpersonal sensitivity were also collected. A factor analysis revealed 3 emerging online behaviour types: use of false information (theft of identity, tricking others), unsolicited behaviour (unsolicited e-mailing/messaging), and persistent communication (frequent contact and use of multiple identities). 'Persistent communication' was viewed as more unacceptable than 'unsolicited behaviour' and 'false information', though all contained behaviours which have been demonstrated to cause severe harm to victims. These findings attempt to demonstrate how individuals categorise deviant online behaviours in terms of severity and individual differences that may be associated with these perceptions.