Kody Shaw
BLOG 4
One of
the biggest dangers that people face when using social media is
cyberbullying. Cyberbullying is a new
epidemic that is, unfortunately, on the rise.
We hear stories on what seems to be a daily basic about people being
cyberbullied. People have been bullied on a multitude of sites such as Craigslist,
Facebook, twitter, and Myspace. Many people become victim to fake profiles on
these sites and get harassed by them. In some cases people have even been
harassed to the point that victims have committed suicide. It has been recorded
that last November, a girl committed suicide due to a friend’s mother creating
a fake profile on Myspace. This is just crossing a line honestly and something
should be done about these types of cases ("Cyberbullying on the Rise”
pg.1). In one particular case a girl by the name of Amanda Todd was driven to
suicide due to pictures of herself going viral on the internet. After giving
out these pictures to what she thought was a boy a couple of years older than
her, Amanda was later asked for more. When she said no, this boy who happened
to be a 35 year old man of the Netherlands, in turn posted the links to her
pictures online and she received many different negative comments on social media
sites leading to her death. This man later faced many charges, but was the
reason a young girl took her own life (“Dutch Man Charged in Amanda Todd
Cyberbullying” pg.2). I find this to be a huge problem, especially because new
media sites come and go so quickly. With so many new sites, the windows for
cyber bullying are increased dramatically. I think something needs to be done
about this growing issue. I feel if there were more harsh punishment for these
types of crimes, we could very easily cut down on the amount of cyber bullying
cases we face so often.
Works Cited
"Cyberbullying on the Rise, on Campus — Bostonia Web
Exclusives." Cyberbullying on the Rise, on Campus — Bostonia Web Exclusives. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Apr.
2014.
"Dutch Man Charged In Amanda Todd Cyberbullying."
The Huffington Post. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Apr. 2014.
Nick McKinney
ReplyDeleteKody, I most defiantly have to agree with you that cyberbullying is a major problem in the world of new media. One thing that makes me agree with you is how there are cases of people who commit suicide due to cyberbullying. Some people are just pushed to the point of breaking and don’t tell anyone how they’re feeling. For example the instance we talked about in class and you mentioned, about the mother who created a fake Myspace account and made fun of a teenage girl. For some reason people pick on others via social networks. I think people feel like it isn’t as bad as in person because it’s behind a screen, but it’s just as bad or worse. There are now people stepping up and implementing different things in order to help those who are victims of cyberbullying. For example On April 9th Minnesota Governor Mark Dayton signed into law the “Safe and Supportive Minnesota Schools Act”. This is just a one-step being taken, but there will be much more. (Patchin)
Works Cited
Patchin, Justin W. Minnesota’s New Bullying Law and the Ability of Educators to Respond to Off-Campus Bullying. 18 April 2014. 23 April 2014 .