What Is A Cyberbully and Cyberbullying?

Cyberbullying needs to be stamped out NOW!

We can surely be thankful for all the advances in technology that are released every day. With each new development, product, tool, device or system we continue to technologically advance.

In the massively popular social networking area we are seeing growth explosions and users of this new technology increase on a level never before seen before.

Social media is an absolutely fantastic tool that can be used by just about anyone with internet access as a wonderful social medium to catch up with friends, find out what people are doing, reconnect with old school buddies, play games and just generally – waste away heaps of time online when you should probably be doing something way more productive with your time!

The most popular social media sites are the original My Space, the number one player in the game FaceBook and a new competitor to the throne, Twitter. Of course there are several more out there however these are the “Big 3.”

As with most technology however there are always those types of people out there that wish to abuse the system. When bullies enter this realm, their targets and victims can be terrorized like never before. This is the vile world of cyberbullying.

Social networking sites are full of cyberbullying!

The biggest problem of social media is also one of its biggest draw cards and that is the anonymity of the user if they so desire and also the freedom to try find and connect with just about anyone on the planet “plugged into” the network.

Cyberbullying is when a bully takes the taunts and abuse out of the schoolyard or workplace and enters the personal space of the victim through such sites as Face Book. This is in the way of abusive messages, threats and slander towards the victim. They can be one or two messages or there can be literally hundreds in severe cases. It all really only depends on how much the bully is willing to post and how much cyberbullying they are willing to do.

Because these posts are not moderated and it can be very hard to find out where information originally came from, the bully who is traditionally a coward, sees this medium as just about the perfect way to continue tormenting their target. Another problem is the way in which other readers of the post can also add their comments to the post and even symbolize if they “like this”. As the cyberbullying messages and comments spread, the victim feels more and more the effects of the original abusive message.

How is cyberbullying different to normal bullying?

When the bullying is physical and also face to face, the pain can be removed once the bully and the victim are separated. With cyberbullying, there is no escape from the bully. Mental torture is far worse in the long run than physical abuse and it is because of this reason that there have been some devastating reports in the news lately about victims of cyberbullying taking their own lives as a result.

Can you imagine how victims of bullying must feel to finally get home and get some relief only to log on and see more messages and taunts – cyberbullying – from their bully right there in their own home or even bedroom. What is more hurtful also is the fact that all these taunts and abuse is there for everyone to see who cares to look at it. Sadly to say that this sort of behavior gets massive views and exposure furthermore adding to the woes of the victim.

Cyberbullying is not just the realm of on-line computers. Mobile or cell phone abuse is just as easy and some would say even easier than violating someones social media accounts on-line. It is so easy to send blocked sender messages to anyone as long as you have their number. Again when cyberbullying, the bully controls not only the content of these phone calls or messages but also the severity of the abuse, the amount of messages they send and also the times at which they send them.

It would certainly seem that the bully has it all their own way and in a way it could be true. There is however always defense mechanisms we can learn and also teach our children so that if they encounter cyberbullying in their lives, they have the skills and the confidence to deal with the bullies before it gets out of hand.

Cyberbullying has the potential to destroy lives and families. With the amount of technology available today, it has also never been this easy to really get inside someones head. Please read my related article “Some Ways To Stop Cyberbullying” for advice and strategies to ensure you or your child never falls victim to this type of bullying.