I spotted this poster in the student health centre at my son’s new school (for next year).
It made me consider the actions of some who seem to cycle their way though these behaviours without any apparent balance or accountability.
Worth considering.
Then there’s this, from a blog post-combined-with-a-bit-of-self-promotion (no foul) by reputation management company CEO Michael Fertik: Revenge Porn is Not Free Speech
Recently, California – where I live – passed a new law that outlaws revenge porn. And that’s a great thing.
Revenge porn is when someone releases intimate video or photos of someone online, where they proliferate forever, linked permanently with a person’s name.
It’s a hugely personal betrayal, a violation of the deepest order. Imagine someone you trusted, perhaps even deeply loved, sharing a visual of you at your most vulnerable for all to see.
It’s recurring degradation, in the form of search results that continually humiliate a person in the eyes of future romantic prospects, colleagues, friends, family, hiring managers, you name it. …
Are we ever going to get the cyber-bullying genie back in the bottle? Is it possible? Even with legislation like that?
Seriously, private citizens and those in ‘public life’ are defamed at will by louts with an empathy-bypass, those who act to ‘destroy’ others, with little apparent regard or consideration for the collateral damage they cause.
Two Australian radio DJs who spoofed a nurse supervising a royal princess’s care in hospital into revealing ‘news’ (trivia) have been, we are told, traumatised by the fact of the nurse’s subsequent suicide in the wake of their prank. I would be deeply regretful in their case too … but let’s not forget the victims.
– P
I read an article online recently in regards to the word “bullying”.
Thanks. Good thoughts.
It seems to me some keyboard warriors do seek to ‘destroy’ those they see as their enemies, using media/social media tools as weapons.
– P
Yeah, and i think it will be fairly difficult to “get the cyber bullying genie back in the bottle” as you put it. A lot like abuse in real life, people who have been abused – often turn in to the abuser.
Hate feeds off hate and it is a matter of breaking the cycle i guess.
Well, yes about the genie. And yes about ‘breaking the cycle’.
A teacher of mine used to say:
‘The easiest way to get a punch is to give a punch. The easiest way to get a kiss is to give a kiss.’ (Consensual kiss implied.)
Two things about cyber bullying are ‘new’, as I see it.
1) the speed at which a counterpunch can be given
2) the terrible ‘persistence’ factor.
An attack or a derogatory interchange can sit somewhere on the internet and be ‘found’ years after the disagreement that sparked it has faded into memory. As we discussed when we talked about Lemony Snickett (remember?) reading ‘bad news’ is the worst way to receive it, because in writing it can cut and cut again.
Actually, the post I cited: A tale of woe … or fevered imagination? is relevant. See what you think.
– P
I am reminded of all the reasons that i avoid online forums after reading that. I also tend to not bother going back to look at responses or reactions on the odd occasions that i leave comments on websites like the NZ Herald. If i happen to see something written about myself on the internet, i click it away and don’t bother reading it, if i can tell it is negative. My logic being – if i don’t read it then it can’t hurt or upset me.
I think the time is rapidly approaching (if it is not already here) where there is so much bullying and rubbish published on the internet that it would take a pretty dim / uneducated person to make a personal judgement about anyone based on what is said in google.
Anyone can say anything they want, and educated people know how to make judgments regarding credibility.