Cyberbullying

Alright guys, the long-awaited blog post is here! I'm sorry it's been so long since I posted on here; school and moving and all that jazz has been crazy. So anyways, on with the post!

This post might seem like I'm being harsh, insensitive, cruel, mean, etc. And that's fine if you think that, because you're entitled to your own opinion. However, I'm making this post because of the experiences I've seen occurring in Twitterstake on a regular basis that really bother me. I got a lot of feedback from you guys that I'll be using throughout this post, so thanks to everyone that gave me their input! I really appreciate it. So here we go: cyberbullying.

First of all, what is cyberbullying?

"Saying something over the Internet that is hurtful or demeaning that you wouldn't say face to face." 

-Collin

"Attacking someone else on the Internet or via cell phones to say mean and malicious things to them." -Bailie

"When someone uses social media to cause another person emotional harm." -@CenCalMormon

"When you put negative comments about another person for everyone on the Internet to see." -Kelsey

So to sum it up, cyberbullying is bullying someone online. This is a harder concept for some people to grasp because a lot of bullying is physical, like punching or kicking someone. However, cyberbullying is just as damaging, if not more. This is the kind of bullying that girls like to do to each other--the psychological warfare we wage on each other through backhanded compliments, subtle comments, and sometimes all-out just plain rude remarks.

Have you or anyone you know ever been cyberbullied?

I've been cyberbullied before. It doesn't feel good and no one deserves it. I was lucky enough to have a friend that stood up for me, and that made all the difference." -Mikayla

"Yes, a girl in my school had an intimate video shared on social media. People said bad things about her and she dropped out of school. It was terrible and I couldn’t imagine how she was feeling. I feel really sorry about her…people shouldn’t judge her how they did." -Carolina

"I was cyberbullied a few years ago and it made me feel so worthless and it honestly got under my skin and made me change as a person." -Anonymous

Subtweets

I get that Twitter is an AWESOME place to vent your frustrations, but in my opinion sometimes we take it too far. Subtweeting about other people that are on Twitterstake is just wrong, and it's a form of bullying. I'm hardly ever involved in any of the drama that occurs online and I still catch myself looking at a subtweet someone made, and thinking is that about me? Are they saying this stuff about me? 

I can imagine that other people go through the same things, since I know I'm not alone in how I feel about some of this stuff. And don't get me wrong I've seen a lot of positive subtweeting too, but those don't stick out to me as sharply as the negative ones do. It's a sad fact of life that we're more likely to remember the things that are unpleasant in our lives than we are to remember the good stuff.

Please remember: the person on the other side of your computer/phone/tablet screen is in fact a real human person with feelings that can be hurt. 

And maybe "hurt feelings" doesn't sound all that bad, because we've been using that expression since we were little kids. That could mean anything from causing someone discomfort, to making them cry, to causing them to take their own life. Please keep that in mind whenever you're writing something about someone or conversing with someone online. 

We're all children of God, whether you think a certain person is evil and stupid for thinking or saying what they are or not, their worth is not a matter of opinion: it's a fact.

If you have a problem with someone online, be the bigger person and talk to them about it. I promise it's not as hard as you might think. Some people are cruel and condescending, but I'd like to think that we here on Twitterstake are better than that and will treat each other with love and patience, when given the opportunity. 

Never be afraid to tell someone "Hey, what you said kind of upset me because" blah blah blah. Own up to your feelings, express them in a calm, mature way, and just wait to see what happens. If the other person is still unkind, then you know you've done all that you can to solve the problem. Maybe they're experiencing some difficult personal challenges, having an off day, or they just suck. But we never fully understand the circumstances behind why someone chooses to act in a certain way.