In our world today, social media and other online platforms simply consume us as users. The more we utilize specific platforms, the more accessible avenues for trolling and cyberbullying become. This being said, why do individuals feel the need to become a troll or cyberbully? With this question being prevalent throughout the whole research process, I started to discover emotional characteristics that are commonly found within those who cyberbully or troll.
We are all aware of the playground bully. He/she may have said something insulting just to make you feel unsettling emotions, or even physically harm you in some way. This scenario may be felt personally, but it is also commonly portrayed in various movies and T.V. episodes. When internet accessibility started to become increasingly popular around the early 2000s nobody was prepared for the emotional damage that would arise. The same emotional damage that was happening on the playground would now be accessible at any time of day, but this time behind a screen.
Currently, there is more research regarding cyberbullying then there is regarding trolling. This is simply due to the fact that cyberbullies have been around for almost twenty years. With new technology comes a new avenue for emotional damage to be done. Trolling has been the most recent avenue to bully. The difference between the two actions are simple. Most often, cyberbullying is the attack of an individual by a peer, whereas, trolling is commonly an attack by a stranger. Which form is the most emotionally damaging? The answer, all of them.
Within this post the main question prevails, why do individuals feel the need to become a troll or cyberbully? Most often, the individuals who preform the bullying/trolling have actually been attacked by another individual at some point within their life. Other discoveries have shown that cyberbullies/trolls have an intense sense of loneliness, low self-esteem, lack of empathy, and self-harm ideations. Interestingly enough, if trolls in particular are confronted in person, they will usually apologize or sympathize for the one who was trolled.
Through it all, it is almost inevitable that with the up and coming technological advances more opportunities to cyberbully and troll will emerge. However, preventing the negative actions would limit the emotional abuse that is created online. Trolls, stay in your caves and stay off the screens.
We are all aware of the playground bully. He/she may have said something insulting just to make you feel unsettling emotions, or even physically harm you in some way. This scenario may be felt personally, but it is also commonly portrayed in various movies and T.V. episodes. When internet accessibility started to become increasingly popular around the early 2000s nobody was prepared for the emotional damage that would arise. The same emotional damage that was happening on the playground would now be accessible at any time of day, but this time behind a screen.
Currently, there is more research regarding cyberbullying then there is regarding trolling. This is simply due to the fact that cyberbullies have been around for almost twenty years. With new technology comes a new avenue for emotional damage to be done. Trolling has been the most recent avenue to bully. The difference between the two actions are simple. Most often, cyberbullying is the attack of an individual by a peer, whereas, trolling is commonly an attack by a stranger. Which form is the most emotionally damaging? The answer, all of them.
Within this post the main question prevails, why do individuals feel the need to become a troll or cyberbully? Most often, the individuals who preform the bullying/trolling have actually been attacked by another individual at some point within their life. Other discoveries have shown that cyberbullies/trolls have an intense sense of loneliness, low self-esteem, lack of empathy, and self-harm ideations. Interestingly enough, if trolls in particular are confronted in person, they will usually apologize or sympathize for the one who was trolled.
Through it all, it is almost inevitable that with the up and coming technological advances more opportunities to cyberbully and troll will emerge. However, preventing the negative actions would limit the emotional abuse that is created online. Trolls, stay in your caves and stay off the screens.
I've definitely seen the most trolling happen on Twitter, since it is such a public platform. You can easily tweet out a joke or make a comment, and then some random stranger from Seattle or Florida will reply to your tweet with a snarky comment, garnering many likes and retweets. It's such a stupid thing but it feels awful! I wonder if trolling will ever start to get phased out as new cyberbullying trends appear (unfortunately).
ReplyDeleteIt is interesting to read about the research about the correlation between cyber bullies and trolls, and their low self-esteem and lack of empathy. This is what I learned growing up as well. If someone was bullying you in person, most likely, it was because they have some sort of self-esteem problem or lack of empathy. It is interesting to see how this is transformed into online bullying. Are there statistically more bullies online, because it is easier to bully without face to face interaction? How does that effect the next generation of people that have less interactions face to face?
ReplyDeleteThis just seems like a cycle that will never end as long as the Earth is in rotation. There will always be another way to mentally hurt someone and I'm not sure if it is as easy as telling people to stop and be nice. If those who are trolling or cyber bullying are acting out as a reaction from what happened to them, what can stop them? I don't think it is as easy as therapy or talking it out or just stopping altogether. I think that bets way is to be reminded of the damage that occurs when someone trolls. Having ad campaigns that show what has happened and what someone should do might reach those who don't realize the damage being made.
ReplyDeleteI appreciated you explaining the differences between cyber bulling and Trolling. A cyberbully is a negative friend and a troll is a usually remorseful stranger. It make me wonder if the internet is what made them what they are or if they would have gone on to be bullies and public enemies in real life if the internet hadn't bee invented. We live in a digital world now and their is no way of ignoring it. Even though it seems very 1984 I believe at some point we will have to apply all real life consequences regarding hate speech, harassment ad bullying to the internet. Of course the question remains who will monitor that and my answers is "whose to say". I just know that the internet has give us an avenue to be our worst selves and really...whose going to stop us? We may just have to start policing each other. However, where is the line between bullying /trolling and just expressing an alternative opinion?
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