Let’s say you posted pictures from your vacation online, and someone commented you looked ugly. You could ignore the comment, erase it or block the person who left it. But still, it’s unpleasant, right?
Let’s say you posted pictures from your vacation online, and someone commented you looked ugly. You could ignore the comment, erase it or block the person who left it. But still, it’s unpleasant, right?
The expansion of the Internet and social media, confirmed by various internet statistics, have created all sorts of new social experiences for us. Communication has become easier, both from a general and technical perspective. People have easier access to each other and to their feelings through the Web. This entails consequences both for our emotional and physical well-being. Because if you are open to something or someone, if you are accessible, you might also be vulnerable. But don’t worry, this won’t be a tale of woe, it’s just a comment that has to do with an ongoing issue that needs regular attention.
Being mean to someone does not take as much effort as being kind to them. That seems to be an established fact. Sometimes a sad one. Sometimes not. While kindness and tolerance are generally worth more effort, because they require some thinking about if you mean them, they leave a lasting impact. They hopefully ignite a string of positive events that, in the general scheme of things, lead to positive consequences elsewhere.
But being mean leaves a lasting impact too, and it may lead to destruction. Which is why it’s sad that tossing an insult is such a fast thing that can wreak havoc. And it’s scary that in the age of internet ruling the world, bullying has never been easier. Especially on social networking sites, with their wealth of commenting and sharing functions which make it possible to hurt someone all the quicker.
Of course, any kind of progress may be a double-edged sword. And consequences of progress, both good and bad, are largely determined by how individuals deal with them, how they choose to approach them. So not every mean remark made to you will end in personal ruin – that would be too dramatic and it’s also unrealistic. Chances are you’ll brush it off, go on your way, while the person who insulted you will continue to try to assert themselves by such pathetic means.
Sometimes, however, the pathetic means cross a line, as is evident with several high-profile school and college bullying cases in the U.S. during the last two years that ended in severe trauma or even students taking their lives.
A certain type of bullying seems to occur most often among the young. According to a “Teens, Kindness and Cruelty on Social Network Sites” survey by Pew Research, 12% of teens aged 12 to 17 frequently witnessed online bullying on social networking sites in 2011. Among adults from 18 years of age the number was 7%. The numbers don’t seem all that large. But 47% of teens witnessed online bullying “only once in a while”. Since there is no clear definition on just how long passes between “only once in a while”, one doesn’t really know if there is actually a bigger picture here: namely that almost half of the teens surveyed possibly regularly witnessed this. Another possibility, of course, is that 47% rarely come across cyber bullying, though that doesn’t mean it’s not happening. Although the survey doesn’t specify whether in this case the respondents were victims themselves or knew of someone else being bullied.
Cyber bullying does provoke reactions on the Web. Though in 2011, more than half of teenagers frequently ignored bullying on social media websites. Still, 27% frequently defended the victim. Cyber bullying has a lot to do with how accessible you make your information – just a change in your privacy settings can do a lot for prevention. Another survey by Pew Research conducted in 2011 state that 62% of teenagers set their privacy setting on Private (Friends only) on social networking sites or Twitter.
CNN reported last year on a Massachusetts bullying case which had received widespread media coverage also beyond the US. The article quotes the French education minister as planning to shut down Facebook accounts of those school students who bully their classmates. But one thinks that they could just create another account under a different name. So it’s also a question of combating bullying in general and looking at how people treat each other.
Because while there may be different trends recognizable in cyber bullying then in “non-virtual” bullying, the fact remains: it’s still bullying. The bullies are just using technological developments to spread their poison.
Everything is a choice or a decision, regardless of whether you are typing it or saying it. Motives like jealousy, boredom or self-esteem issues will always be driving people. But so will things like love, empathy, goals, enjoyment and sociability. After all, we’re still here, and that counts for something.
Stephanie Kopf writes for the blog www.trenditionist.com. Her subject areas include anything related to the human psyche, international news, communication and the interaction