In today‘s society, since new social networks continue to grow and become more personal, it is very easy for people to become victims to cyberbullying. According to the website Nobullyingicom, “CyberBullying is using the Internet, cell phones, video game systems, or other technology to send or post text or images intended to hurt or embarrass another person.” Social networks are the stem of cyber bullying. Today, there are social networks that allow people to ask each other questions, anonymously, so that the person does not know who is behind the personal questions. People have the opportunity to attack others without them even knowing who is behind the other monitor. The youth today are so in touch with their cellphones, tablets, and laptops, they are accessing their social networks about every day, According to Stopbullyinggov, “Research on cyberbullying is growing.
However, because kids’ technology use changes rapidly, it is difficult to design surveys that accurately capture trends,” Whenever a person is walking through the hallways of high school or waiting for their next class in college, they are either taking “selfies” and posting them on social networks such as Instagram, or posting status updates about what they are currently doing on Twitter. It leaves people so vulnerable to cyber bullying because anything that is posted online is hard to get rid of and it is very unpredictable to know how other people will react to what individuals post on their profiles or timelines. A good example of the social issues that cyberbullying is having on the youth, is when someone posts a picture of themselves, or posts a status on Twitter about someone but without naming them, this is known as subtweeting. This creates controversy among the people reading the status, believing it is related to them, so their emotions grow, and they confrontation begins over this social network.
One fact about cyber bullying is that is very hard to avoid, especially with smartphones continuing to become more advanced and the introduction of tablets. Also, with public places having Wi-Fi, it is very easy for people to access the Internet, wherever they might be, and enact cyberbullying. The Pew Research Internet Project conducted a survey for teenagers, involving their Internet access from their smartphones, The results showed that, “Among older teen girls who are smartphone owners, 55% say they use the internet mostly from their phone.”
This makes people look at how inescapable cyberbullying is A very big effect that cyberbullying has on people is that it plays with their self-esteem and their emotions. They become afraid and depressed because they feel like everyone is out to get them and expose them for whatever they do online or in person, An interesting statistic that Stopbullyinggov presents is, “Children who were bullied from the (Sm-9m grade are more likely to become depressed by the time they reach the age of 23‘” This affects how they will function psychologically especially when they reach their adult years. If someone succumbs to so much harassment at such a young age for a conLinuous amount of time, it is very hard for them to emotionally connect with other people and it can highly affect their lifestyle.