Through its Anonymous Online Communication, Cyberbullying is Detrimental to One's Mental and Emotional Health

Although bullying has existed since the beginning of time, there is currently a bullying epidemic that now exists beyond the realm of the schoolyard and encompasses cyberspace. Coined as conventional bullying that involves electronic communication, cyberbullying intends to harm, harass, intimidate, and to socially exclude others and involves a power imbalance between the bully and the victim.

Recent studies indicate that:

• 70 percent of children experience cyberbullying, 
• about 37 percent claim they experience cyberbullying on a frequent basis, 
• and 20 percent of these children say they experience extreme cyberbullying on a daily basis. 

Typically, cyberbullying occurs among young children because 90 percent of Internet users are between the ages of 12 to 17. However, statistics show that 20 percent of avid social network users are actually between the ages of 8 to 10. Cyberbullying frequently manifests itself among this demographic of children because their young age and developing brains hinder their ability to psychologically and mentally discern the risks and dangers of the Internet. Consequently, as studies have demonstrated, victims of cyberbullying may suffer from psychosomatic issues ranging from depression and anxiety to substance abuse and suicide.

The growing prevalence of social media and its anonymity has significantly contributed to cyberbullying

Before the Internet, bullying occurred on the playground, a place that was readily visible to teachers and school staff, which provided them with the ability to observe and eventually discipline the behavior. Nowadays, however, bullying occurs on the Internet through social media sites like Facebook, Twitter, and Ask.fm, which exist in cyberspace. As a non physical environment, cyberspace is a fertile ground for cyberbullying. Its lack of adult supervision promotes bullies to engage in more manipulative and hateful behavior. They can do so because of the anonymous nature of the Internet. We have no idea who lies on the other side of the screen. It could be a friend, a mere acquaintance or simply a stranger.

Additionally, the Internet's pervasiveness allows cyberbullying to occur anywhere and at anytime. Children can access their social media accounts whether they are at home, in the car, or at a school and this leaves the victim with seemingly no sense of escape. This inability to avoid the situation causes a victim to experience the negative impacts of cyberbullying.

University of Maryland's Dr. Kent Norman, associate professor in the psychology department, describes social media's role in cyberbullying's detrimental nature.

   

Victims of cyberbullying may respond to their issues by either internalizing or externalizing their problems

As a victim of cyberbullying, children may not know how to handle the deleterious impacts. Consequently, some victims will internalize their problems, attempting to shield their distress from the public, while others will simply externalize their problems, portraying their apparent suffering.

On the one hand, those victims that internalize their problems are suffering from depression, anxiety, and low self-esteem. These victims feel extremely dejected and develop a sense of helplessness. They are unable to go about their daily, routine activities, but as a matter of fact, they also choose not to participate in activities because they do not want to further subject themselves to potential victimization.

On the other hand, victims that externalize their problems will oftentimes resort to substance abuse involving marijuana and binge drinking, delinquency, and suicide. Suicide is the most notable and adverse consequence of cyberbullying. These victims are outwardly expressing their sense of hopelessness and desperation because they feel as if there is no possible way, other than these options, to help combat the bullying. Furthermore, the degree of each impact varies depending on the severity of the cyberbullying case. Some victims suffer a significantly greater amount than other victims.

 

15 year old Amanda Todd is a perfect example of a cyberbullied victim who committed suicide out of desperation. Todd as a vulnerable, young girl and unaware of Internet safety, subjected herself to victimization of cyberbullying. As a result, her reputation was tarnished, she was left with no friends and began experiencing depression and low self-esteem. She resorted to self-harm to alleviate her emotional distress, but after recognizing that was unsuccessful, she committed suicide on Oct. 10, 2012. Take a look at her describe her story in a YouTube video that has reached 18 million views.

 

Dr. Norman adds insight on the negative impacts by describing low self-esteem as cyberbullying's most damaging effect. 

While a majority of victims psychologically suffer from cyberbullying, age and gender may play a role in the exacerbation of the impacts 

When we think of bullying, the stereotype that comes to mind is that girls are more likely to experience the negative impacts of bullying than boys, as boys tend to shrug off bullying as characteristic behavior. Some studies confirm this stereotype as they claim that girls seem to struggle more with cyberbullying. They are more likely to experience symptoms of anxiety, depression, and low self-esteem. The studies suggest that this can be attributed to the idea that girls have a better perception and understanding of emotions. Boys may claim that the victimization did not affect them as they fear that expressing their emotions will weaken their masculinity.

Like gender, age may also impact the way cyberbullying affects victims. Those victims that are younger posses a greater target to victimization because, to bullies, they are seen as weak and inferior. They do not have the mental capacities to respond and ultimately defend themselves against the bully. Younger children are also more susceptible to emotional damage as they are still developing ways to cope with difficult situations. The idea that the younger generations are more negatively impacted by cyberbullying encourages society to act immediately and identify ways of prevention.

Dr. Norman details why the younger generations and girls are typically more susceptible to cyberbullying. However, as Dr. Norman explains, cyberbullying is not limited to the younger generations. In fact, anyone can be affected by its deleterious nature.

Victims should seek professional help in order to cope with their emotional distress rather than resorting to suicide

Before the emotional distress becomes so unbearable that a victim has suicidal tendencies, they should visit a psychologist or even a school counselor. These trained professionals can provide bullied children with alternative coping methods. Psychologists and counselors should stress the necessity of establishing supportive relationships with those that are close to them, like family members or even close friends. By creating these relationships, children will ultimately learn that they have supportive figures in their lives who they can trust and rely on in times of need and desperation. Communication between children and counselors is imperative for helping children overcome their struggles.

Furthermore, these professionals can help strengthen children's emotional resources so that the distress of the cyberbullying has as little impact as possible. They should encourage children to recognize that despite those people that have maliciously intended to harm them, there are people out there that love and care for them. Likewise, psychologists should encourage children to participate in activities that they will find fun and enjoyable. The goal of this is to facilitate the good feelings associated with these activities, which can then be the focus of the children's thoughts rather than their anxieties and fears.

Dr. Norman expands on this and explains how children should cope with their cyberbullying experiences.

Study Demonstrates That Cyberstalking Is Highly Prevalent Among Social Network Users

Many people view the Internet through a positive lens because it seems to be unlocking new vehicles for accessing information and connecting with other people. However, on the other hand, a majority of people contend that it provides ways for people to pursue and harass other individuals without identification, which leads to the idea of cyberstalking. According to the study published in the Cyberpsychology, Behavior and Social Networking Journal, "the repeated pursuit of an individual using electronic or Internet-capable devices has been referred to as 'cyberstalking.'" Perhaps the online and social networking environment, with a lack of face-to-face interaction, invites these individuals to closely monitor other users. The study revealed that more than 40 percent of social networking users experience some form of online harassment at least once throughout their lifetime.

Cyberstalking's many forms differ in frequency, duration, and intensity 

Victims of cyberstalking have reported that their perpetrators utilized their social networking accounts to harass or pursue them in various ways. The stalkers oftentimes go out of their way solely to communicate with their targeted victim, to contact others in order to gain information regarding their victim or to defame them. 92.5 percent of the time, stalkers send a personal message to their victim and about 72.2 percent of the time, they communicate with others. Likewise, many of these stalkers publicize personal information and private or intimate videos and pictures against the victims' will. Through these publications, the perpetrators, 53.9 percent of the time, are damaging the victims' reputations and spreading falsehoods across a wide audience.

Furthermore, while cyberstalking may appear temporary, 32 percent of victims reported that the stalking continued for up to 1 month. Among the 32 percent of these harassed victims, 45.1 percent of the victims claim their perpetrators persisted for even up to a year and 22.8 percent were stalked for more than a year. Similarly, 27 percent of victims reported that they were harassed several times daily, 20.6 percent contacted once  per day, 30.1 percent on numerous times throughout the week, 10.8 percent numerous times a month and 11.5 percent only reported occasional harassment from their stalkers.

Cyberstalkers may not be strangers to their victims, exacerbating their underlying motivations

Interestingly, the powerpoint above illustrates that a majority of the time, the victims of cyberstalking know of their perpetrator and therefore can identify their motivations for harassment. The stalkers were reported to be either an ex-romantic partner, a friend or someone within the victim's school. Among the most common form of cyberstalking was ex-partner stalking, where an individual stalks their former romantic partner. About 35 percent  of the cases reported in this study involved ex-partner stalking, while only 28.5 percent of the cases involved friends or acquaintances. For those victims that knew of their stalker, they were able to potentially identify the reasons for the cyberstalking. Some reported that the stalking occurred as a result of a possible rejection (61.9 percent) or out of jealously (54.9 percent). Additionally, some victims believed that their perpetrators wanted to start a romantic relationship (49.4 percent) or initiate a friendship (23.3 percent) with them. Paradoxically, 30.1 percent of the time, victims were unaware of the identity of their stalker, leading to unanswered questions about the motivations of the stalking.

The psychosomatic and psychological effects of cyberstalking can significantly impact the victim 

Among those involved in cyberstalking cases, 97.5 percent of these victims reported suffering from psychosomatic and psychological problems as a result of their stalking. As shown in the powerpoint above, many experienced feelings of helplessness, which caused sleep disturbances. They believed there was absolutely nothing they could do to prevent the stalking, therefore they lay awake at night, scared of their stalker's capabilities. Similarly, victims checked themselves into counseling or therapy sessions to relieve their anger, aggression and fear of their stalker and to regain lost trust in their friends and family. The negative effects of cyberstalking take a mental, physical and emotional toll on the victims and their families.

The results of the study revealed that cyberstalking characteristics parallel the elements of offline stalking

As the Internet continues to evolve, cyberstalking is becoming more and more prevalent at 6.3%, which is almost identical to the prevalence rate of offline stalking. The perpetrators behavior in cyberstalking, much like offline stalking, evokes reasonable fear in the victim, regardless of age or gender. Nonetheless, the study reported that in both types of stalking more women (80.5%) become the victim of cyberstalking, while men are predominantly classified as the perpetrators. Moreover, the comparable nature of these two forms of stalking reveal that most victims are acquainted with their stalkers and therefore understand their motives. Although victims may know of their perpetrators, they still experience the negative consequences as a result of either form of stalking. Overall, this study concluded that cyberstalking is a growing problem, accompanied by detrimental impacts on the victim and should be taken as seriously as offline stalking.

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Marketing Companies are Starting to use Personalization to Attract Customers

According to an article written on Internet Retailer, marketing companies have started using personalization as a way to target customers to buy their products. About 97% of these companies agree that personalization of information will significantly help achieve long-term goals of the company. The advanced personalization they are using involves recommending products to its customers based on their previously viewed products and previously purchased products. The article states that the marketing companies personalize over a wide array of technology. 18% of the companies personalize on their own website; 21% are personalizing on paid search; 23% on video advertising; 25% on online displays; 25% on social media; and 33% on Emails. Nonetheless, about 65% of these marketing companies believe that integrating personalization on the web poses a challenge of securing internal resources and accessing a single view of customers across all channels of the Internet. If the companies are going to personalize information, they must figure out how to address these potential issues. Lastly, hoping that increasing spending on personalization will convince buyers to invest in their companies, the marketing companies will begin implementing personalization programs. 

Students use different means of technology such as cell phones or Facebook to communicate with their peers regarding academic work

According to a study published in the International Journal of Technology in Teaching and Learning, college students use technology for many different reasons. Some of these reasons include communicating with peers or instructors for assistance on academic work, using the school's Learning Management System and conducting research for papers and projects. Most students feel very comfortable integrating technology in the classroom, therefore they believe it is in fact beneficial to their learning.

Often wanting to receive help or guidance, college students ask their peers about academic work in and outside of the classroom. Many students take advantage of the various means of technology in order to communicate with classmates. Some students prefer certain methods over others. The results of the study revealed that most students, 61% of them, prefer to use their cell phones as a way to communicate with peers, while 59% of students use social media like Facebook. Conversely, only 13% of students use video chat and only 20% of students use instant messaging. Additionally, about 35% of college students use email. No matter which vehicle students utilize, they all benefit from the technological communication between their peers.

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