Cyberbullying versus Traditional Bullying

Blake Johnson
CAS283 Spring




                In class we started to talk about online negative consequences and how they play into everyday usage of CMC. There are many negatives that people can derive from being online and also CMC. Some of the consequences are catfishing, pornography, flaming, trolling, negative how-to guides, etc. One of the most significant and known about negative consequences from being online and CMC is leaving the door of possibility open for cyberbullying. Cyberbullying is the willful and repeated harm inflicted through phones and computers. It can range from teasing to actual harassing sites. Most of the negative consequences of CMC share characteristics. I believe the most common reason for negative consequences online is anonymity. This makes it all too easy for people to slander and cyber bully online. Of course not all cyberbullying is anonymous, but it definitely plays a role in a majority of cyberbullying cases. The article I read on Arlington Patch (unknown author) highlights the differences between cyberbullying and traditional face to face bullying. Everyone has seen bullying before. From varying angles as some people have experienced it first hand as a victim, as the bully themselves, or as witnesses to the action of someone being bullied. In the article the author suggests that cyberbullying is more common than traditional bullying as a study by the University of British Columbia claims that “About 25 to 30 percent of the young people surveyed admitted experiencing or taking part in cyberbullying, but only 12 percent said the same about traditional bullying.”

So why do people tend to cyberbullying versus traditional bullying? The first conclusion the author drew was that there was a lack of severity in what happened online. 95% of people believed that what happened online was supposed to be a joke, while only 5% was actually meant to harm someone. In my personal experiences I have witnessed people being attacked online and was less inclined to feel sorry for that person immediately. When viewing someone being bullied in real-life, the seriousness is definitely heightened and more people are less inclined to do nothing and especially less inclined to laugh it off as a joke. A big part of my reasoning for this is the lack of synchronicity online versus face to face. When someone is being bullied online, you can’t immediately gauge their response, often needing to wait for responses by the victim to see feelings towards the attack. Face to face is synchronous and immediately you can gauge reactions of victims as bullying is occurring. This lack of synchronicity is a big part in why people more frequently and more comfortably bully online. They don’t have to see the immediate effects of their actions on their attackers.

 The author goes on to suggest that “Teens can become desensitized to a computer screen, and say or do things they wouldn't do to a person's face. The computer desensitizes teens and decreases the level of empathy they feel toward the victim.” This is what the author believes makes cyberbully different from traditional bullying. Teens suggest that more commonly online attacks are supposed to be funny, a joke, and elicit laughter. Traditional bullying is more obvious intended by people as a negative attack against someone. When viewing attacks against someone online, I am less likely to feel sorry or view the aggressor in a negative light than if I view someone getting bullied in a hallway. I feel it’s more common to take part in online bullying as I have never bullied someone traditionally but technically I could be considered as having cyberbullied people before. I didn’t at the time really consider it cyberbullying, but under the actual terms of cyberbullying it would be considered it. The author ends by giving tips about how teenagers can avoid cyberbullying as well as avoid being cyberbullied by others.