Dillon conducted the study with Brad Bushman, professor of communication and psychology. Their results appear in the April 2015 issue of the journal Computers in Human Behavior.

For their study, Dillon and Bushman told 241 undergraduates they would be testing an online chat program. But during the “test,” the person supposedly charged with monitoring the chat began insulting one of the participants (who was actually a member of the research team). Only 10.4 percent of subjects directly intervened to address the insults. However, after their surveys and chat room testing were complete, 70 percent of those who saw the bullying scored both the chat and the chat monitor lowly. They noticed the bullying, but took indirect action instead of confronting the bully directly (the remaining 15 percent who saw the bullying didn't intervene directly or indirectly).

"Many anti-bullying and anti-harassment intervention programs are 'if you see something, say something,’" said Dillon. "This experimental data tells us that that’s a pretty high threshold. My data suggests the more indirect ways you can give people to intervene, the more likely it would be for them to intervene.”

For example, Dillion pointed out that the messaging app Yik Yak allows users to “down-vote” posts (that is, to express their disapproval by clicking a “down” arrow). After five down-votes, the post is removed — all without anyone having to say anything to an offensive poster directly.

Dillon stated that this research may aid in designing interventions that can help bystanders find ways to stop cyberbullying.

"At the end of the study, when we told participants about the true purpose of the study, many who didn't respond or who responded indirectly said that they wished they had directly intervened," said Dillon. "Many said they wanted to respond to the bullying, but weren't sure what they should do."

Often, confronting a bully often makes the situation worse, so Dillon recommends that helping the victim, or even getting the victim away from the bully, is the best response.

“This study shows how they can help the victim, or remove the victim from the situation. That may be the best strategy in some cases,” she said.