The Responsible Use of Social Media to Prevent Cyberbullying.
Cabiles, Irish Anne G.
BSE ENG 1
In this topic, we will discuss the positive and negative effects of social media and the responsible use of social media to prevent cyberbullying.
Today the world is totally dependent on social media. It’s very difficult to find out someone who doesn’t use social media.
In today’s world, social media is the best medium of communication for people through social media people can easily communicate with other peoples.
Social media has become a very important part of life nowadays. The usage of social media is grown much faster day by day.
Social media is has gained a stronghold in our everyday life because everyone can access different social media for free and we spend a lot of our time using cellphone or gadgets to check our social media account to inform us in any issues that happened in our society just like news, we informed and know what happened.
Social media has a big impact on our lives especially now in a “new normal” because we use social media to become easy for us to communicate with our relatives that on abroad or far places to avoid have a virus, the most useful social media is Facebook, Twitter, Youtube, Instagram, Pinterest, etc.
Let’s start with the positive and negative effect of social media:
- The positive effect of social media we can know about any part of the world within minutes through television and the internet. Media is the best way to spread knowledge, information, and news from one part of the world to the other.
- The negative effect of social media is the most influential one for the people to result in violence. Studies have suggested that exposure to violence on television, movies, and video games makes children more aggressive, fearful, less trusting, and more accepting of violence. Sex and violence in media also lead towards the sex crimes in the society it traumatized teenagers especially children which result in abuse in the home, streets, school, etc.
We didn’t stop everyone to use social media especially teenagers because they have used it every day to communicate but some teenagers are experiencing cyberbullying. Cyberbullying is when someone uses technology and electronic devices to do mean things, such as start rumors, post embarrassing things on social media or send inappropriate content or text messages meant to hurt feelings in some way. These bullies use any kind of device they can to attack their victims through online gaming and social media sites.
Cyberbullying often happens due to depression and creates depression for the victim. As well as some cyberbullies are victims of real-world bullying and go online to bully others in order to feel powerful. Others are bullies offline and want to extend their bullying to the online world. Additionally, some cyber bullies just want to show that they can do certain things online to show off. These bullies can only be minors and teenagers; otherwise, it is considered cyber-harassment or cyberstalking. Cyberbullying often happens more than once and occurs in many levels of severity. Cyberbullying includes leaving meaningful messages on someone’s Facebook (social bullying), uploading embarrassing photos, or spreading gossip or rumors over instant messaging and text messages.
How to prevent Cyberbullying
- make sure your accounts are private and only your close friends and family can see what you post.
- Be cautious of what you post online! Never share passwords, private photos, or personal data(such as your address or phone numbers) even with friends.
- if you are being bullied, avoid responding! Engaging with a bully only fuels the fire.
- save the evidence! If someone is cyberbullying you, take screenshots and photos of what they say to you.
- block the bully from contacting you on social media or through other avenues.
- reach out and let someone what you are experiencing, especially a teacher or parent.
- take note if you feel like your daily emotions are changing and seek counseling if necessary.
- don’t take a bully’s comments to heart. while it doesn’t excuse their actions, a bully could be acting in response to troubles in their own life.
- keep doing what you love. special activities, interests, and hobbies help you boost your confidence, make genuine friends, and avoid bullying behavior
When I’m using social media I limit using it because I encounter different people, we have different thoughts, attitudes, and feelings when they using social media. Sometimes I see a positive post on social media and I also see a negative post on it. That’s why I need to be responsible every time I use it, I didn’t chat or adding people that I didn’t know because I’m afraid of copying my personal information and stalk me. I only post the things that have a good effect on me or on other people also I need to be responsible and to be a good person to influence others.
Sources:
https://adilblogger.com/advantages-disadvantages-social-media-youth-society/