Social Media bullying is harassment, threats, and humiliation through social networks. Cyberbullying is one of the ways we lose young adults to suicide and depression. For young adults, it is hard to control what they do and whom they interact with on social media.
One form of bullying is exclusion. Today, we have children below ten years owning mobile phones and tablets. We still have parents who believe it is a young age to own gadgets. When these children go to school, they face exclusion from the other students. This is a form of bullying brought about by social media. The reason for exclusion is the child cannot relate to any of the things other children are discussing because they do not own a mobile phone. They cannot understand the games, cartoons and are not part of the group created online by their classmates.
Trolling is one other common form of social media bullying. It happens when online users keep telling negative things about themselves to provoke a response. It may harm the person undergoing trolling by affecting their mental health and self-esteem. This is also relatable to another form of bullying called outings, where your friends post embarrassing images about you.
Conclusion
Bullying can take many forms, like cyberstalking. This is when abusers look for online users they can stalk and abuse. Therefore, we need to take care of our young generation. The generation commonly referred to as generation Z grew up in the error of digitalization. There is a thin line between using social media for entertainment and destroying your children. With the increased popularity of these sites and fewer strict measures to protect the younger generation, parents need to step in and follow up on what their children are doing online. This is the only way to save the generation from destruction.
References
Cyberbullying: A deadly trend. (2019).
Henderson, R. M. (2021). Social media shaming and bullying.
Milosevic, T., & Livingstone, S. M. (2017). Protecting children online?: Cyberbullying policies of social media companies.