In both Europe and North America recent TV and media coverage have placed the spotlight on the issue of bullying. Bullying by SMS, not to be confused with cyber bullying and whilst the two may occur in tandem, is emerging as a virulent threat to vulnerable sections of our pre-teen and teen societDublin, Ireland, July 31st, 2008 – Michael O’Brien, VP Marketing of Openmind Networks today released the results of Openmind Networks’ survey of mobile professionals on bullying by SMS which demonstrated that 94% of those surveyed believed bullying by SMS to be a reality. The survey was conducted via SMS among a pan European and North American mobile professional audience and 412 responded to the survey questions. The survey measured mobile professional’s opinion on bullying by SMS as well as their opinion on who should provide the protection against this threat.
"As a parent, my immediate concern is the safety and protection of my children and if there is a solution that can be deployed to prevent this form of bullying, then of course I will want to see it deployed without delay," said Michael O’Brien, VP Marketing at Openmind Networks. The mobile community has to move beyond the ‘educate and warn your children and they will be safe cycle of advice’ as there is irrefutable evidence that bullying by SMS is on the increase and is now an ever present reality both inside and outside the school community.”
When asked if bullying by SMS was a reality 94% or 387 respondents said yes proving that the wider mobile telecoms community accepts that fact. 91% or 391 believe that mobile operators should provide a service to assist in preventing bullying by SMS and on the issue of price and who would pay for the service, 75% or 307 respondents said they would. This leaves 1 in 4 mobile professionals that would not be willing to pay for the service which places the spotlight on the CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) policies of the mobile operators and how they are advising subscribers to deal with bullying by SMS. The bottom line is that the survey results show that there is a groundswell of support for installing preventative measures and also that the overwhelming majority of subscribers are willing to pay for the service.
“The survey results tell us that the mobile operator must power the process to help prevent bullying by SMS and every step of the trial, test and deploy cycle to build truly effective and profitable long term relationships with its subscriber base,” added O’Brien. “The fact of the matter is that the only game in town is customer retention and not acquisition, so offering a uniquely differentiating service that can help safeguard subscribers and at the same time generate new recurring revenues is a win-win scenario for the operator and subscriber.”
The results of the survey are posted at http://www.openmindnetworks.com/operators/BullyingbySMS.asp