Cyberbullying as an Online Harassment Issue and Its Major Effects

Cyberbullying as an online harassment issue

It is known to all of us that cyberbullying is a type of bullying that mostly takes place in the virtual world where most teens spend time at the moment. This world is known to us as the World Wide Web and one of its most used locations is social media.  Any individual can get bullied on smart devices like mobile phones, tablets, laptops, and PCs. Different applications, social media platforms, and online forums are used for bullying individuals where people have the opportunity to easily interact with each other through chatting, video calling, and audio message sharing. Cyberbullying as an online harassment issue has attained a lot of focus and we need to act fast on it to make the internet safer.

It has been found that cyberbullying has turned out to be a prime method for online harassment and shaming. There are various types of it, ways of doing it, and processes to get prevention from it. This blog, amassed by the experts at AllAssignmentHelp, will shed light on cyberbullying and is a go-to read for people aged between 15 and 24 years – the most targeted audience of cyber-shaming.

What is Cyber Bullying?

Cyberbullying – an umbrella term is used to describe numerous types of online abuse. This includes and is not limited to reputation attacks, doxing, harassment, publishing explicit content (audio or video clips) on the internet, etc.

To cyberbully, the committer uses various tech tools like smartphones, PCs, even gaming consoles, and/or any device that has access to the internet or social media. They typically do it by harassing, stalking, or abusing another person/group through active participation or instigation in online hate campaigns.

Often it has been found that cyberbullying victims do not have any idea who is veiling behind the accounts used to abuse them. Additionally, in the present day, cyberbullying is not taking place targeting any specific age demographic; rather everybody is now at risk of being a cyberbullying victim in some or the other way. One being a PhD candidate may face cyberbullying along with one in mid-school. It has become like a trend and people who perpetrate it, do not think of anyone other than themselves. 

Unfortunately, if you have faced such or have gone through it very recently, we do understand your mental state at the moment. However, your study program (be it offline or online) will not wait till you recover from it. Getting a helping hand for handling your academic work, especially assignments in this situation can be very helpful. You can get assistance from a professional college assignment help service at any time to make yourself comfortable and heal from the horrific experience that you might have experienced.

Read more: Enhance your Critical Thinking Skills with these 10 Case Study Topics

Highly Alarming Facts Associated with Cyberbullying

Cyberbullying is a very deadly trend that is making the present student generation go haywire.

Take a quick look at some of the facts below to better understand how disruptive it is:

  • Victims of cyberbullying are 1.9 times more likely to commit suicide
  • 68% of youngsters who have experienced internet harassment have had mental health difficulties
  • One in every four students who suffered bullying attempted suicide
  • 64% of cyberbullying victims reported that it impacted their ability to learn and feel comfortable at school
  • 37% of bullied people suffer social anxiety
  • More than 21% of female victims aged 19 to 25 report significant emotional disturbances as a result of cyberbullying
  • In 2023, 37% of those who were bullied acquired social anxiety, and 36% had depression
  • The most important psychological consequences for female cyberbullying victims include feelings of powerlessness (66%), sleep loss (63%), and reduced self-esteem (61%)
  • Cyberbullying raises the risk of suicide by 8.7%

The above-provided statistics must be taken into serious consideration and specifically, students should take preventive steps as soon as they come across any such incident in their life or someone they know.

Different Types of Cyberbullying

Various ways are there for someone to fall victim to it or experience cyberbullying when using technology and the internet.

Following are some common means of cyberbullying:

Harassment

If a single individual or a group of people tries to contact someone online and sends a thread of foul messages to get connected, this means they are being exposed and harassed. Individuals can face online harassment through social media, email addresses, and mobile phones (texting and calling). Such contacts that the victim gets are of a malicious or threatening nature.

False profiles

Fake social media accounts are set up to damage a person, figure, or brand’s status. It can easily be accomplished by procuring images of the victim or target easily available on the internet and making the account appear as true as possible. If not detected on time, such accounts can have enough possibilities to spread negativity among friends/followers.

Suppose, in the evening just a couple of days before if you come across your duplicate Facebook or Instagram profile, you will obviously feel nervous and all your exam preparations may go in vain. In this situation, you can search for a professional company on Google and ask them to Take my online exam for me. Like a friend, they will take care of it and help you get the required course credits so that you can do the needful to prevent yourself from any further cyberbullying.

Spreading explicit audio or video clips

When some explicit or compromising images, audio, or video clips of one person are shared on social media or adult websites without their consent is another sort of cyberbullying.

Account hacking

Cyberbullying offenders often lure into a victim’s social media accounts and post offensive or harmful messages. This mostly damages brand images and tarnishes public figures.

If you or any of your friends face this issue while preparing for your upcoming say online biology class, the smartest move will be to notify all the people in the profile about the hacking. And next, you can talk to an online class help service and ask them to take my online biology class. This way, you will have time to think about the next steps like reporting to the cybercrime department near your location and others without worrying about the online class as a professional will take great care of it.

Doxing

When one person’s private information like home or office address is compromised on social media or public forums without his/her permission by an individual or group of people is typically called Doxing. The instance causes the victim to feel extremely concerned and can lead to psychological issues as well.

Swatting

When someone notifies emergency responders (like 911 in the US) claiming treacherous actions taking place at a physical address is labeled as swatting. The main objective for offenders here is to create panic and fear among the victims as armed response units arrive at their homes or places of work (victims). Swatting is more rampant within the online gaming community.

Shaming

When someone is pointed out as “shameful” or “wired” or any other similar term for a past activity, skin color, race, eating or walking habit, or even dressing sense is called Shaming. It is very common among young adults and teens but anyone can fall victim to it.

Cyberstalking

Alike to harassment, cyberstalking encompasses the perpetrator making insistent efforts to gain the victim’s contact. However, there is a slight alteration from harassment. Per many surveys, such cases mostly happen when one cyberstalks another individual because of deep feelings (be it positive or negative) toward the victim. One who tends to cyberstalk will probably escalate their stalking into the real world.

Corporate cyberbullying

Corporate bullying is something when an employee or a group of subordinate workers are being bullied for any of their attributes, way of working, origin, or speaking style. This can harm individuals more highly and if it is not addressed quickly, can make their lives highly painful and downgrade their proficiency.

Corporate attacks

In the corporate world, cyberattacks are used to send a lot of information to a specific website making it non-functional. Corporate attacks can have a huge impact on a country, state, a big organization, and its employees as they damage businesses’ reputations and, in some cases, an attack has enough effect to force them to close the business at least for some time.

There are many negative aspects of getting bullied online however, when you know the immediate steps for prevention, you can get out of it quickly and get back to your work at the earliest.

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Major Reasons behind cyber bullying

There are a handful of reasons behind someone might think of cyberbullying another person or entity.

Following are some of the most common reasons:

Victim of cyberbullying

Someone may choose to cyberbully another person as a result of having been cyberbullied themselves. They may believe that treating people in this manner is acceptable, or that it is the only way for them to express their anguish.

To make friends and well fit into the group

If someone witnesses another person being cyberbullied by a group of people, they may believe that by joining, they will ‘fit in’ or make new friends.

Power

Many choose to cyberbully to have the feeling of power or influence over others and can control any situation.

Disturbed home life

The offender may be going through a difficult time at home and misdirect their rage and frustration onto someone else. Most of the time, this happens when the person attempting to do cyberbullying doesn’t have somebody to talk to about his or her issues.

Video games

Online gaming has skyrocketed in the last 10 years. This has also seen a spike in individuals playing online games reporting the spread of hate, toxicity, and abuse. Online gamers can speak to each other using a microphone in the in-game live chat system. This is used mainly to support teamwork, complete an assignment (game) together, build friendships, and improve the complete gaming experience. However, some of these players misuse this technology and use it to abuse other players by employing verbal spat or inappropriate text/messaging.

Jealously

Jealousy can be a common reason for cyberbullying, specifically for teenagers and young adults. Going through the teenage phase is quite difficult for many as young ones are always trying to discover themselves, and many feel unconfident about their presence. Because of this insecure feeling, they often try comparing themselves to their peers (who are fast-forwarding in nature) which eventually results in hate or jealousy-based abuse and cyberbullying.

But if such a thing happens and you find that your online finance classes are getting disrupted due to it, instead of sitting quietly and thinking I wish I had someone to take my online finance class for me, get your hands on your smartphone, tab or laptop and find a finance class help service online to do it for you. This way, you will get time to fortify yourself from any such attacks and prepare to stop them from happening.

Being disturbed themselves are the ones who prefer cyberbullying or online bullying. You should not let them enter into your world at all.

Steps to Take if You are Being Cyberbullied

If you have been exposed to cyberbullying, it can be easy to think that no one will understand or be able to help you. Fortunately, that isn’t the case. There are a few proven ways that can stop black hats from making your life a hell.

Check out the following bits of advice to deal with cyberbullying:

Talk about it

When dealing with cyberbullying, you must create a network of support from friends, family, and people you can rely on. These individuals will be able to assist and support you. Talking to people during a crisis can not only provide a voice of reason or rational thought, but it can also make you feel better since you are allowed to communicate your thoughts and feelings without judgment. If you are a young person or teenager who has been a victim of cyberbullying, you should consider speaking with a trusted parent or teacher. If cyberbullying occurs at school or involves students at your school, a teacher should be able to assist you in resolving the issue efficiently.

Retaliation is not the solution

People who cyberbully others usually do so to provoke a reaction. They will soon become bored and move on if you do not retaliate.

Assess the risk

Those who are cyberbullying you, are sending you threatening you or you have reason to be concerned about your safety, you should communicate with law authorities immediately. They will be able to assist you with your safety and advise you on what to do next. By that time, if you have any online classes to attend, can seek help from services by typing take my online class on your search engine and will find multiple names to connect with. Get your class done by the experts at any time of the day and at a price you do not have to think twice before spending.

Students are highly advised not to distance themselves if any such thing occurs in their lives. Instead, they need to take precautionary steps to make sure that one that cyberbullying can be caught red-handed and never think of doing similar activities in the future.

Conclusion

Bullying can harm one’s morale and it can take place anywhere. When it is about cyberbullying, can have long-lasting psychological as well as physical effects way beyond any expectation. Instead of keeping quiet about it, individuals need to talk about it if they are facing anything similar to it. Being silent makes the offenders feel more confident about continuing such activities whereas voicing against it can give them a feeling to refrain from it.

Many online and offline services are there to assist students in handling this situation and come out of it at the earliest.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Question 1: Can I be cyberbullied?
Answer:
Anyone having an online presence on the internet can get cyberbullied.
Question 2: How will I prevent myself from being cyberbullied?
Answer:
A few steps can help you stay safe from cyberbullying. These are, not accepting unknown people in your social media handles, not opening suspicious links from your devices, etc.