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Monday, April 12, 2010
Faceless Bullies
It's all too relevant that the discussion of flaming and cyber-bullying in today's world couldn't go without discussion. It seems like it is all too common that Facebook is growing into the newest way to harass people anonymously. Individuals or groups of people create Facebook Groups or made up names and utilize them to abuse their page for bad purposes. Creating offensive groups or sending threating messages to others. Much like the main point in the beginning of the chapter, every technology has advantages and disadvantages, good and bad features. A site used and aimed for making friends and predominantly meeting people, also can be used as a vehicle for bullying and abuse. It's a shame and frustrating, that individuals feel the safe enough to hide behind pseudonyms or false profiles and say things that they have good knowledge of are wrong. It is almost certain, that people who hide behind a facade, would never say the same things in person.
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I definitely agree that people behave differently on these social media websites than they do in person. I think that a main aspect of communication lost online and through text messaging is the expressive verbal tone people are using, and this lack of tone context makes for confrontation and wrong impressions.
ReplyDeleteI agree with what you've said. I think in many cases, though certainly not all of them, people can make themselves seem tougher or more demeaning than they really are by using a technology to spread hate, or other negative actions. Truthfully though, these people may not have the guts to say something real in person. It's annoying, and really frustrating in instances that aren't about bullying. But when it does apply to online harrassment, it's really sad that words coming from someone like this can have the desired effect on a victim.
ReplyDeleteThere is this sense of anonymity and safe distance that comes with online communication, and perhaps lower inhibitions, but as noted, it is possible to trace the computer that's being used.
ReplyDelete