Introduction (brief overview) - Christina Horn Cyberbullying is a form of bullying that is done electronically by devices such as computers, tablets and phones. According to http://whatis.techtarget.com/definition/cyberbullying ‘the problem is compounded by the fact that a bully can hide behind a pseudonymous user name, disguising his or her true identity. Facebook, twitter, and other social media sites are prime places for it to occur. Examples of cyberbullying are sending abusive messages, threats, creating false profiles, posting embarrassing photos or videos and spreading rumors. It can be defined as “willful and repeated harm inflicted through the use of computers, cell phones, and other electronic devices” (from Bullying Beyond the …show more content…
According to Internet Safety 101’s article on cyberbullying, exclusion occurs when “someone is intentionally left out of an online activity or social group”. One example of exclusion is a Facebook user sending social media challenge invites to certain friends and decline sending out invites to others he or she believes doesn’t apply. Another example is when an individual is removed from an online group for a difference of opinion or no reason at all. Exclusion is a systemic way of using technology to make others feel: “left out of things on purpose, excluded from their group of friends, or completely ignored” (Wang 2010). However, the effects of exclusion can be …show more content…
The taunting continued into the summer of 2003, although Ryan thought that he had struck a friendship with a pretty, popular girl through AOL Instant Messenger (AIM). Instead, he later learned that the girl and her friends thought it would be funny to make Ryan think the girl liked him and use it to have him share more personally embarrassing material—which was copied and pasted into AIM exchanges with her friends. On October 7, 2003, Ryan hanged himself in the family bathroom. After his son’s death, John discovered a folder filled with IM exchanges throughout that summer that made him realize “that technology was being utilized as weapons far more effective and reaching [than] the simple ones we had as