The internet is a space of
unhampered free expression, yet the greater part of that expression is in the
form of impolite talks and rowdy conversations. Some people use the
accessibility and secrecy of the online world to retch disdainful messages.
Among them would be the trolls and the cyberbullies. While the difference
between the two might appear to be superfluous to their victims, there is a
distinction between what they do. Trolls aggravate online groups and draw
attention; they are attention seekers, while cyberbullies utilize the online
world to inflict pain on the online community. Understanding the dangers and how to protect against them should be essential to protect the mental health of our kids.
What Is an Online Troll?
Trolls are online community
members who leave provocative remarks and messages in the comment section.
Either they will leave comments on the blog entries or online news locales to
grab the attention of the other members of the communities. Trolls tried to
disrupt the discussion on the web by posting derisive, supremacist, sexist,
blasphemous remarks or comments with words of profanity. Trolls can target the
article, other commenters, or the blog owner.
Web trolls are attention
seekers. They need to convert the attention from the article, discussion, or
the author to themselves. They are hoping to get reactions to their incendiary
remarks from the blog owner and other commenters of the site. They do not care
whether they receive a disdainful or positive message; their main aim is to get
more attention by posting comments. As long as they are receiving a lot of
attention on a certain website, there is a huge possibility that they will
continue doing it.
What is a Cyberbully?
There is a huge difference
between trolls and cyberbullies. Trolls concentrate on gaining attention by
being a nuisance, while cyberbullies target individuals. Instead of posting an
incendiary comment, they post horrible things that aim to intimidate or
disgrace only one user. This could be dastardly messages, private photos, and
videos related to the targeted victim. They may choose to post it on their
public feed or send the message to the targeted person privately to provoke
that person.
Cyberbullies have the urgency
to disparage and hurt a targeted user. Trolls are unconcerned with the damage
their remarks might bring about. They couldn't care less if the comments they
left would cause pain. The only thing that they are hoping to receive is
attention. Cyberbullies are not expecting to divert attention to them, but they
want to create negative reactions to the victim. Cyberbullies exist to cause
harm and emotional distress to their targeted user.
Where Does it Happen?
Cyberbullying and trolling
happen all over the internet. Contrary to what most of you might think, the
problem is not constricted to social media alone; it also occurs on gaming
sites, instant messaging, blog sites, forum sites, and even search engines. The
majority of trolling and cyberbullying happens on Facebook, followed by Instagram,
Twitter, Snap Chat, and Instant Messages. According to the statistics, almost
95% of social media accounts have experienced dealing with cyberbullies and
trolls. 55% of them are frequently experiencing this. The latest research
concerning cyber bullies states that around 16% of online trolling and cyberbullying
happens in online games. The male community poses a high risk of harassment
through online gaming. Cyberbullies will use Google Bomb to increase the visibility
of a particular post that targets an individual on search engine sites. People
will then pass the article thinking that the article's content is factual.
Impact on Girls
Study shows that the female
community is vulnerable to trolls and cyberbullies on social media sites. The
situation is getting more serious as more than half of those who participated in
the study attest that they experience cyber bullying to someone they know,
which makes the attack more personal. Some of the hurtful messages that the
girls received are being retained, causing them to lose confidence, leading to low
self-esteem. The female online community is more exposed to these kinds of
harassment than the male community. Last 2013, more than 20% of the Grade 9
girls were affected by it, whereas only 9.4% of the males were involved on the
same level.
Steps Parents Can Take
Cyberbullying and trolling are
unfortunate events but a realistic part of adolescence. It can affect the
physical, social and emotional health of the affected individuals. Due to that
matter, the guardians and the parents need to take considerable action against
it. One tip to give your children would be advising them to ignore the hateful
messages. They can also take a screenshot of the hateful messages as evidence
of that event. If you find out that there are malicious web content on a
webpage, you can call the Internet Service Provider to ask them to remove the
webpage. Simple blocking can do the trick if online harassment happens on
emails and social media sites. It will also not hurt to ask their school to be
proactively involved against cyberbullying and trolls.
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