Cyberbullying is a form of online harassment in which people attack others using computers, mobile phones, and other devices. According to a UNICEF poll, more than a third of young people in 30 countries report being a victim of online bullying. The most common forms of cyberbullying include flaming (also known as online fighting), harassment (repeatedly sending mean or threatening messages), impersonation (taking on someone else’s identity), outing and trickery (sharing private information without permission), and exclusion (intentionally leaving someone out).
Flaming
Flaming is one of the most common forms of cyberbullying. It occurs when two people argue over something, usually in a public forum like social media or an online comment section. Users can be flamed for their opinions and actions, which may lead to them feeling bullied or harassed. However, flaming is not just online fighting; it also involves harsh language and insults intended to degrade another person’s character and make them feel bad about themselves.
For example: If you’re trying to ask an opinion about whether your outfit looks good for a school dance on Twitter and someone responds by calling you ugly or saying that everyone will laugh at how you look in the outfit (even if it really does look good), then that could be considered flaming because there are no real facts being discussed here—just mean words used as weapons against another person’s self-esteem without any purpose beyond hurting feelings and causing pain.
Harassment
Harassment is a form of cyberbullying that involves repeated or continuing unwanted contact. You might be harassed on social media, via text message or phone, in person, and even via emails. Harassers may use words like “you’re stupid” or “you’re ugly,” but they also can make threats to harm you physically—like with a knife or gun—or they might threaten to post embarrassing photos online.
The harassment could happen over the course of hours (like being called names at recess), days (getting nasty messages through Instagram), weeks (getting mean texts from your ex), months (being taunted about your weight every day after school) or years (not being able to show up for class because someone keeps threatening to hurt you).
Impersonation
Impersonation is a form of online bullying. This occurs when someone pretends to be another person, typically someone famous or well-known. A popular example of this is the “Catfish” television show, which involves people faking identities online in order to trick others into falling in love with them.
Unfortunately, impersonating others online can also happen with friends and family members as well as strangers. For example, some people will pretend to be other people on social media in order to get attention from their peers by posting embarrassing or mean messages that can get the person(s) impersonated into trouble (e.g., legal trouble).
This type of cyberbullying could also be considered defamation if it results in damage or harm to an individual’s reputation (e.g., if someone was fired after having been falsely accused of stealing money at work). Impersonation can even lead to identity theft if your personal information is stolen and used for fraudulent purposes like opening credit lines or making purchases under your name without your knowledge or consent!
Outing and Trickery
Outing is the act of revealing someone’s personal information, such as their name and phone number, to others. This can be done either by posting it on social media or sharing it with someone who will then do so. Outing has many implications for privacy, but it also serves as a form of cyberbullying because it violates an individual’s right to keep certain aspects of their life private and safe from unwanted attention.
Outing is a form of cyberbullying because it involves the release of information about an individual that they have tried to keep private. When this happens, it can hurt their reputation and cause them to lose friends or even get fired from their job.
Trickery is a form of cyberbullying in which a perpetrator tricks their target into revealing personal information that can be used to embarrass them. This information could include photos, phone numbers, names and other details. For example, the perpetrator may trick their victim into believing they need help with something and then request personal information as part of the process.
This form of cyberbullying can be harmful because it often involves spreading rumors about the victim or posting false information about them online. This can lead to feelings of distrust and embarrassment for victims who are unaware that they are being deceived by someone they thought was trustworthy.
Exclusion
Exclusion is a form of bullying, whether it’s active or passive. In this case, it’s an intentional act of excluding someone from an online group or conversation.
Exclusion can also be a direct form of bullying where someone knows the victim will see what they’ve done and still exclude them. This can be seen as more malicious than indirect forms of exclusion because the perpetrator knows exactly how their actions will affect the victim.
It’s important to note that exclusion doesn’t only apply to social networks like Facebook—it can happen anywhere online!
How to Use Netsweeper for Cyberbullying Detection
onGuard protects students proactively by monitoring, detecting, and alerting administrators to activity that indicates a potential risk to their student’s wellbeing. onGuard uses active system monitoring including optical character recognition to identify user activity and then trigger an alert.
Cyberbullying is a serious problem in our society today. It can be done in many ways, and it can have serious consequences for the victim. Even if you’re not sure that you’ve been cyberbullied, it’s important to know what to look out for and how to handle it if you are a victim.
The best way to handle cyberbullying is to ignore it and block the person who’s doing it. If you feel like there’s no escape from someone who won’t stop harassing you online, then report them to an authority figure like an adult at home or school.