You Can Run but You Can’t Hide - Response Essay 4

            Avoiding consequences, hurting people, and then just tuning out?  Cyberbullying has become an increasing problem for children in our country and Facebook has become an enabler for bullies.

            The term Cyberbullying only applies to children.  Adults are Cyberharassed or Cyberstalked rather than bullied.  Cyberbullying is when a child is harassed by another minor digitally (Stopcyberbullying.org).  Bullying used to just remain on the playground and in schools, occasionally reaching farther and, in some circumstances, causing death but is now spreading through the use of New Media technology.  With new media, or more specifically Facebook, there also comes fewer consequences.

            Bullying exists in many mediums, from other social networking sites to being broadcast on television, so why is Facebook important?  Facebook has become an enabler for bullying, giving the bully a new medium to commit their actions.  It is not just that bullying takes place on Facebook but that it has so many ways to help it continue.  Private messaging, mass sharing, and the ability to remain anonymous add to this idea.  Despite all the changes Facebook is constantly receiving not much has been done in terms of bullying other than the usual report this buttons and blocking.

            While anything posted online can be saved and used as evidence, many people are not punished for what they do and can remain anonymous when committing the act.  The ability to create a new account with relative ease makes it very easy to remain anonymous.  Anyone can pretend to be someone else on Facebook.  There was once a case of a young girl’s information, including birthday, school, family information and pictures taken of her, were used to make an account that was entirely public, opening up the girls life to the world.  The perpetrator denied it and people started to avoid her because of it (Landau).  Facebook’s privacy settings also change so often that, despite trying to protect themselves, a victim could end up missing something.  It has also become much easier to spread rumors and lies.

            Before cyber-bullying, a rumor had to be told over and over again to spread, but now it can just be made into a quick post.  The whole school could view it in a couple hours instead of the time and effort it would take to spread it regularly.  On top of that, it can happen at any time.  There is not an eight to four schedule for the internet like there is for school.  If someone feels like being mean, they can just jump online, whether it is five in the afternoon or two in the morning.  This ability to post at any time also removes the time the bully would have had to wait and change their mind.  The instant gratitude lets them do it without really considering what they are doing to the other person.

            On top of the ability to spread posts like wildfire, a bully can directly contact the victim with Facebook's messaging service.  The bully does not need the victims phone number, all that matters is that they are either “friends” with the victim or the victim has lax security on their account.  After that, they can send as many comments as they want until the victim finally does something about it.  Facebook also gives the effect of a lack of inhibition.

            While online, no one can hurt you physically.  Someone could say whatever they want, and as long as the receiving party knows little about them, can remain safe from violence.  This has created some pretty drastic statements being shared such as death threats, encouraging suicide, and other threats of violence along with the typical name calling and put downs.  On top of this anonymity, someone can send disturbing and threatening pictures to a victim. 

            With this new form of bullying, the belief that victims should just get over it still exists.  Despite the fact that it is harder to escape this form of bullying without causing even more problems, it is still common for people to expect the victim to just get over it and ignore it.  This has always been a common attitude towards bullying and has not changed over the course of time. 

           

Works Cited

Landau, Elizabeth. "When Bullying Goes High-tech - CNN.com." CNN. Cable News Network, 15 Apr. 2013. Web. 29 Mar. 2015.

"STOP Cyberbullying: What Is Cyberbullying, Exactly?" STOP Cyberbullying: What Is Cyberbullying, Exactly? WiredSafety.org, n.d. Web. 29 Mar. 2015.