Almost three-fourths of the population of the whole wide world have already a wide range of access to the internet in today’s generation. The online world or social media really has a lot of advantages, never-ending privileges, and entertainment that practically all people want to experience and possess. Technology surely has stepped up its game. But through these steps, there are growing downsides. Social media is wide. It is vast and immense that the people from the other side of the field can know the people from the end of the field, and by knowing information or facts about those people, they can do anything they want. And that includes online bullying or also referred to as Cyberbullying. According to a website called Cyberhelp. eu, Cyberbullying means insulting, threatening, defaming, or intentionally harassing other people using modern means of communication, usually for a long period of time. A type of bullying that’s more advanced and is used oftentimes because it is safer. It is safer for the rationale that the intimidator can stay nameless and unspecified as long as the victim does not take any legal action.
According to a 2017 report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, “Nearly 15% of students experience bullying over text, social media or other electronic means.” We may know that cyberbullying is an issue but we don’t fully understand its mainspring. Cyberbullying is an act of using immensity social media to mock others. It habitually occurs because of the viewpoint of bullies that they are more concealed in technology than in reality. Power and guts are in their minds because they are unknowingly hiding behind those screens. Technology today allows people to make different unanimous accounts that bullies use to attack their victims. Now why do they do that? Some individuals would bully only to boost their egos. These individuals simply harass others for their own liking, they are not scared of getting caught because they believed that they wouldn’t be apprehended. Bullying makes the bully confident, it makes him/her feel powerful and in control. Attention is what they want and they get it through bullying. Cyberbullying is a great danger to society. It causes harm to people and results negatively for both, the bully and the victim. It is a serious global issue that is not to be taken for granted.
There are different ways of cyber bullying. People can experience cyberbullying even through their friends. Let's start with the simplest type of cyberbullying, which is teasing. People get teased by their friends mostly on social media, they will comment something whenever they see a photo of you that they think is funny, if you posted something and your grammar is wrong, they will start to bash you and laugh at you. You sure are lucky if your posts and photos did not go viral, there are many people that gained attention regarding their posts. They are being bullied and laughed at by many people on social media, especially on Facebook. One more way to cyber bully someone is to create false news and information about him/her. People experience this kind of bullying especially famous people that are mostly actors/actresses. The harshest way of cyberbullying is by spreading scandals and posting photos and videos of someone doing explicit things or sexually. It is really relevant here in the Philippines because there are so many issues related to explicit videos of teenage couples, but mostly girls/women are the victim because they are being harassed in the comment sections.
Individuals who commonly experience the firsthand effects of Cyberbullying are those persons who are trying to fit in a particular circle of people just to gain fame, recognition, reputation, and the like. Additionally, those who are on the verge of popularity like celebrities, people of high status in society, and influencers are examples of persons who oftentimes experience its effects. Yet, the list does not stop there. Bullied people, perpetrated persons, and still the list goes on and on. Cyberbullying is dominantly felt in today's society, especially among Filipinos who tend to be dependent on Social Media. Yet, the proper use of it tends to be neglected by others. For instance, people express their thoughts, emotions, and feelings towards it. But, to use it to convey information, express opinions, and the like, still, the proper use is thus, by far, neglected by individuals, society, and the whole community.
It starts with just a couple of mean or rude comments from a post, but it can grow and become 'cyberbullying'. cyberbullying takes place on websites, the internet, text, email, and social media through the use of electronic technology or gadgets such as laptops, cell phones, iPads, tablets, computers, etc. People tend to cyberbully anyone regardless of their age, religious beliefs, gender, job, perspective, and social status. It is very chronic, especially nowadays. cyberbullying can include insults, death threats, harassment, and embarrassing other people. Social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube can be a pathway for other people to hurt or bully anyone they wanted to. There are some ways a person can be bullied on the internet. An example is hacking someone's social media account or any important one and accessing it. They can also send disrespectful or offensive messages to you. It can affect anyone mentally, spiritually, and physically. They take advantage of social media and think that bullying is not a serious manner. cyberbullying may result in loss of self-esteem, loss of self-confidence, frustration, depression, anxiety, stress, isolating themselves from everyone, attempting suicide, mental breakdown, and a lot more.
cyberbullying can cause long-term damage to a child and to an adult as well. And in today’s generation the 21st century, cyberbullying is a widespread issue. It is relevant in today’s generation because most of the victims of cyberbullying are teenagers or what we called the “millennials”. It is also relevant because there are so many issues in our teenagers nowadays, sometimes it is their fault that’s why they’re having an issue and on the other hand, someone is making an issue about them. And that is the starting point of cyberbullying because once you have an issue and it is spread in social media. Everyone or anyone will criticize you, will judge you, and will make their own opinion about your situation. And some of these issues cannot be considered significant issues in our world today because of some millennials who have a crab mentality. They make their own judgment and sometimes make fun of someone on social media, and it starts to have to cyberbully. That’s why anyone can be a victim of cyberbullying because of the mentality of our generation today.
In Sherrie Gordon’s 8 reasons why kids cyberbully others, there are reasons that can answer why cyberbullying is being taken lightly by people. First, when people have friends that are bullying on the web, they are more likely to participate in the behavior themselves. In their thoughts, it does not appear to be a huge issue in light of the fact that their companions acknowledge the conduct. Second, people believe that when they post anonymously, they will not get caught and people who post hurtful things against others will not see the outcome of what they did, which makes it extremely easy to say and do things. Lastly, most people believe that cyberbullying is not a big deal since they don't see the torment that someone may cause. In fact, a few examinations have discovered that an expansive number of people who post and share hurtful comments online reported that they do not feel anything for the exploited people in the wake of tormenting on the web. Rather, numerous people announced that web-based tormenting made them feel entertaining, well-known, and incredible.
Cyberbullying is not simply an act of teasing or mocking other people online, but a detrimental move that can cause a person to feel anxiety, suffer a lack of self-value, harm herself or himself, and can actually urge them to commit suicide. It is a never-ending predicament from the past until now; in today’s generation. With this in mind, it makes us ask the question; when will it end? Or when will it be resolved? The answer is, we all don’t know. And we will surely never know it until we act. Until we comprehend the situation, discern the problem, and start the action. Maybe we will all just say that even if I act, still there will be no change. But the change starts with you and your determination to do it. Just as Barack Obama said, “Change will not come if we wait for some other person, or if we wait for some other time. We are the ones we've been waiting for. We are the change that we seek.” Cyberbullying is a move that is taken lightly by most people today. It is actually a crime that jeopardizes the privacy and protection of the people that uses the internet. Oftentimes, we are not sure if we’re becoming a part of it. Maybe a victim, a cyberbully itself, or a witness to this kind of situation. Start looking not only at the visual aspects of your computer and your mobile phones, but also look inside it, look deeper, and perceive things before you do something in media. Research. Scrutinize. Assess. Because if you don’t, no one will ever will.