Quote:
Originally Posted by dragonmegaXX
So everyday we hear about people who are terrorized online for random reasons, but the people doing it are never punished because of their anonymity(whatever) online. It seems like people are starting to take it more and more seriously lately though, especially since a lot consider cyber bullying worse than real life bullying(which has pretty bad consequences nowadays in schools).
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'Anonymity' is available for both parties. This may only be my perspective, but I see many people who are 'bullied' on the internet responding in a senseless manner. Most of the time, they throw themselves out in the open, waiting for people to jump in and take their side or do something for them (attack the bully). Much of what I see is due to their interest in drama or confusion on how to deal with others in a social environment.
The truth is, everyone deals with bullies. However, you don't hear everyone's problems.
Why do you think that is so?
I'm not trying to dwarf people's problems with others, but I do feel like many of these issues could be handled in a much better way. Once again, being anonymous should work for both parties, and ignoring someone on the internet is simple enough to do. When problems cross certain lines, authorities can step in. However, bullying has been going on for a long, long time. This is not some new kind of epidemic; it was bound to happen. Do you remember AIM chat rooms?
Now, I'm going to dive into more personal thoughts.
Cyber bullying is pretty similar to cyber sex.
Compare cyber sex with 'irl' sex. What is the difference? Why do people have cyber sex? Are the thoughts, feelings, desires still there?
Compare cyber bullying with 'irl' bullying. Think about the previous questions. Let me go into a little more detail now. What about punching, can you do that online? Gathering friends and swarming around a defenseless victim, can you do that online? Sure you can, there are alternatives that you could mention, and plenty of them.
But, there is a huge difference. I do view cyber bullying as a lesser problem when compared to problems with people who are up close and personal. The internet and the mind both provide strong tools that should negate most online attacks. All these victims need to do is use them. The same
cannot be said for life outside of the internet. It's hard to ignore a fist slamming into your face, or block a user from breaking into your home.