Bullying Due To Our Technologically Integrated Society

Due to our technologically integrated society, cyber bullying is becoming more prevalent each year. This form of bullying can be defined as when individuals use the internet and electronic communication to transmit harassment and hostile messages. Not only does the anonymity setting that most social media’s offer encourage relentless online hate, but it makes it easier for the sender to dehumanize the recipient. These days, it is hard to find an online outlet that does not have multiple poignant posts or blatantly abusive commentary. With cyber bullying being so difficult to avoid during any given experience on the internet or social media apps, every measure should be taken to negate it. Bullying is nothing new. It has always existed alongside

Before we can start solving the problem, we need to understand where it comes from for both the bully and the victim. It all starts with the brain; the center of our conscious thought and decision making. While people of all ages use the internet, the main target audience for online forums and social media are teenagers and young adults. The brain does not begin to truly develop the ability of logical thinking until the around the age of 13, yet many social media sites allow for accounts to be made at this age. Furthermore, children are not able to fully comprehend the consequences of their actions online because their emotional and cognitive regions of the brain are not fully developed. In a study conducted by the University of Chicago, f.M.R.I scans showed the difference of reactions in the brains of bullies and non-bullies. In the brains of the bullies, the areas that control impulse and judgment were underdeveloped, and would be dominated by the reward and pleasure centers of the brain. Not only can our human nature drive us to be unkind to others, but the brain overrides the areas involved with empathy at this age. On the other side of the equation, the victims of bullying in

Interactions on the web mean no face-to-face exchanges, which in turn means no “real-life” consequences. Along with the emotional distance that an electronic device creates between the abuser and the victim, there is an invincibility that the bully feels with having the advantage of being anonymous. As previously mentioned, many apps like ask.fm and tumblr offer anonymous messaging options that allow almost anyone to send unfiltered content to the users of their choice. If a bully feels that there are no repercussions for their words, they are more inclined to be more malicious and hurtful. Since the commenters are faceless, there is a resulting lack of consequences which has allowed the escalation in frequency and severity of bullying. In order to help prevent cyber bullying, the use of anonymous messaging should not be an installment online and apps like yik yak should be discontinued all together. According to the New York Times article “Name Calling in the Virtual Playground”, columnist Nick Bilton elaborates on the use of apps with faceless messaging and the result of bullying through these forums. In the past year, there were 9 suicide deaths as a result of abusive messages sent over ask.fm. These deaths could have been prevented if there had been preventative measures in the way of content filtering and requiring commenters to be held accountable for their words. The article also touches on how