The dark side of social media
Although the internet has been wonderful in the fight against sexual harassment, many argue it may have made matters worse. A research project in Australia found that nearly half of all women have experienced abuse or harassment online. Moreover, 76% of these women are under 30. This is a scary statistic to comprehend. Luckily I just about missed growing up with technologies and social media platforms. I was allowed Facebook when i was 15 and proceeded to get twitter and Instagram when i was around 17. However, like many girls I have had to put up with my fair share of harassment online.
Social Media:
13 is the age social media users need to be to create an Instagram, Facebook and Twitter account. I personally feel that this is far too young. Childhood is meant to be the time where young people don’t need to worry. However with social media comes lots of worries. It’s incredibly easy to be found on the internet once you belong to a social networking site which has it’s positives and negatives. If the internet had never been invented we wouldn’t have to deal with issues such as cyber-bullying and online harassment.
Cyber-bulling:
Cyber-bulling is still a huge problem when it come’s to web and mobile communications.
- Nearly 43% of all children have been bullied online.
- Over 80% of teens use a cell phone regularly, making it the most common medium for cyber bullying.
- 81% of young people think bullying online is easier to get away with than bullying in person.
- Only 1 in 10 victims will inform a parent or trusted adult of their abuse.
- Girls are about twice as likely as boys to be victims and perpetrators of cyber bullying.
- Bullying victims are 2 to 9 times more likely to consider committing suicide.
The internet makes sexual harassment easier because the perpetrator can hide behind their phone screen.
Harassment online can come in many forms.
- Cyber-stalking
- Impersonation
- Doxing
- Swatting
- Catfishing
- Trolling
- Dogpiling
- Revenge Porn
- Cyber-bulling
- Hate Speech
If you are unsure of the meaning of any of the previously stated forms of online harassment you can find the definitions here.
All of the above are extremely serious and anybody suffering should seek help straight away. Many forms of harassment are actually against the law therefore allegations are taken extremely seriously. If an image is posted on social media or you have any other worry that relates to the internet you can go here to seek help.
The Future of online harassment
In the future there will undoubtedly be many more advances when its comes to technologies and the way people interact with each other. The worry is that if media users do not handle situations carefully and ensure safeguards are put in place then all forms of online harassment will potentially escalate. However there is much more awareness of the problems which web and mobile communications have enhanced, so it should be possible to ensure that social media outlets build suitable and robust safeguards into the system to eradicate online harassment.
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