The emergence of the internet brought about new terminology like "cyberbullying," "digital resilience," and "bullycide" to describe online harassment and its consequences. The stark reality of cyberbullying is underlined by surveys showing a significant percentage of students experiencing online harassment, leading, in severe cases, to bullying suicide. The disconnect between online and offline personas, fueled by online anonymity, contributes to a culture of humiliation, as described by Professor Nicolaus Efforts are underway to create a safer environment online for all people which is akin to societal adjustments to past technological advancements that promotes a culture of "Upstanders" who counteract online harassment.
Trisha Prabhu is a notable innovator and social entrepreneur, dedicated to tackling online hate via her invention, ReThink™, a technology that scans users' messages and alerts them to re-evaluate offensive messages before posting. At 13, after learning about a cyberbullying victim, she developed ReThink™, which significantly reduces hateful online posts. This technology was developed after she heard that a 12 year old took her own life due to 1 and a half years of being cyberbullied. After that, she's received numerous awards, including from ex-President Obama, and was featured on ABC's Shark Tank. Besides cyberbullying, she's passionate about female entrepreneurship, showcased by her role as Illinois's Youth Governor and involvement in Boston.
There are 8 main forms of cyberbullying
Cyberbullying harassment: sending a lot of messages to someone who doesn’t want to receive them
Cyberstalking: stalking someone's online activity, including on social media
Denigration: sending or posting harmful, untrue or cruel statements about a person to other people
Masquerade: pretending to be someone else and sending or posting material that makes that person look bad or places that person in potential danger
Outing and trickery: sending or posting material about a person that contains sensitive, private or embarrassing information, including forwarding private messages or images. Engaging in tricks to solicit embarrassing information that is then made public
Exclusion: actions that specifically and intentionally exclude a person from an online group
Cyberbully can occur on blogs (interactive web journals), websites, emails, listservs, chats, messages, etc…
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