Posts

Not Just for Kids

Image
When I think about bullying, my brain immediately goes to my 11 year old daughter. I think others most closely associate bullying of any kind with school age children. However, cyberbullying can impact all ages and across all different social groups, works, different social media outlets, etc... The following articles address the impact of bullying in groups other than children: https://www.bbc.com/worklife/article/20220819-how-workplace-bullying-went-remote Different types of intimidation and humiliation can happen in the workplace setting. This has only increased in frequency as our workplaces have moved more and more online. Even those working in person have many opportunities for interaction online, whether through email, virtual meetings, or communication platforms like Slack or Teams. These interactions are just as damaging to adult mental health as children dealing with bullying in the classroom. 

What is cyberbullying?

Image
How do we identify cyberbullying? What steps can we take to prevent cyberbullying? Defining cyberbullying, identifying causes, and looking at preventive solutions are all key in stopping cyberbullying.  First, How do we define cyberbullying: Cyberbullying is when someone posts mean or harmful on the internet. This may be in texts, group texts, social media, video games, apps, or other digital devices.  Next, understanding some causes of cyberbullying can help with prevention. This article examines some of the reasons behind cyberbullying: https://secureteen.com/cyberbullying/cause-of-cyberbullying Causes of Cyberbullying The cause of cyberbullying lies in the motivation of the bully. Why do they choose to bully and what makes them this much confident? It all starts when one person decides to cross the limits to humiliate the other one. So, what are the motivating factors of cyberbullying? ·A Lack of Empathy Where technology has opened up space, it has also given the authority of statin

Deepfakes and Cyberbullying

Image
A mother in PA is arrested after it is discovered she has been cyberbullying teammates on her daughter's cheer team. She altered photos of the young women and shared them through anonymous texts and posts.  This technology adds a disturbing concern to the threat of cyberbullying. " This is a concern, Mr. Ajder said, as it could be used in crude ways to attack individuals, create political disinformation, make cybersecurity vulnerable, conduct fraud and manipulate stock markets." "The police suspect that the altered media was created through deepfake technology, which is becoming both more sophisticated and accessible, playing into experts’ concerns that it can be used to harass or commit crimes. With deepfake technology, people can take a still image and map it onto an existing video to disparagingly alter the appearance of someone."   https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/14/us/raffaela-spone-victory-vipers-deepfake.html This video contains great information on deepf