Cyberbullying

What is it?

Cyberbullying is being cruel to others by sending or posting harmful material or engaging in other forms of social aggression using the Internet or other digital technologies with intent to harass, intimidate, torment, or embarrass.

It can look like:

• Flaming: Online fights using electronic messages with angry and vulgar language.
• Harassment: Repeatedly sending nasty, mean, and insulting messages.
• Denigration: Sending or posting gossip or rumors about a person to damage his or her reputation or friendships.
• Impersonation: Pretending to be someone else and sending or posting material to get that person in trouble or danger or to damage that person's reputation or friendships.
• Outing: Sharing someone's secrets or embarrassing information or images online.
• Trickery: Talking someone into revealing secrets or embarrassing information, then sharing it online.
• Exclusion: Intentionally and cruelly excluding someone from an online group.

Dynamics

Cyberbullying may be used separately or in conjunction with other forms of offline bullying to harass and intimidate the target. The bullying and harassment may be perpetrated any time day or night with increased anonymity. Due to the nature of cyber space hurtful messages and rumors may be spread to large numbers of individuals with remarkable speed.

• May be related to in-school bullying. Sometimes, the student who is victimized at school is also being bullied online. But other times, the person who is victimized at school becomes a cyber-bully and retaliates online.
• May involve relationships. If a relationship breaks up, one person may start to cyber-bully the other person. Other times, teens may get into online fights about relationships.
• May be based on hate or bias-bullying others because of race, religion, physical appearance (including obesity), or sexual orientation.

What is the Impact?

Distress stemming from cyber-bullying victimization is not slight or trivial and has the potential to inflict serious psychological, emotional, or social harm. Some impacts include increased isolation, anxiety, decreased self-esteem, and depression. Targets of cyberbullying are also at risk of becoming an online harasser themselves.

(Information adapted from the work of Nancy Willard Center for Safe and Responsible Internet Use)