Just gonna be that person who brings up a long old thread. Why? Because this topic really fucking bothers me.
First of all, cyber bullying is bullying. I was bullied from elementary school up through high school and if that wasn't enough, I was also cyberbullied. It can still destroy people. It's like any gossip or rumor. It still fucking hurts. It brings you down. I've had aggressive bullies and passive aggressive bullies. Some bullies were physical, some of them were emotional. In all honesty, I think the ones who spoke hit harder than the ones who actually hit me. Being hit, okay, I can move on from, being called degraded by things such as, "You're a loser, you're fat, you'll never get anywhere in life." leaves more of an impact.
So you may be asking, oh well they aren't physically hurting you, why can't you forget about those people. Easier said then done. If you ever take notice, society enjoys pointing out the flaws or the 'bad things' in itself. Look at the media, a lot more things are depressive such as rape, murder, etc. So really, it's not that /easy/ to move away from all the negativity in our lives. Especially if you're alone when these things happen. Why? Because you then THINK about it even more. You might become more self conscious and feed your brain, "Wow, am I really a loser? Am I really that fat?" and since someone said it, now it's in your head.
When it comes to online bullying it can be just as destructive. I remember I wore a costume to school since it was for a cultural holiday. Someone had taken a picture of me and spread it on tumblr, twitter, and facebook. I found out and was shown the comments. They were nasty like, "what is she doing? She looks like a turkey. Wow only those kinds of people at our school" and so forth. Did I do the equivalent of block/delete, yes. I closed the tab. That doesn't mean I can erase what those people said. I can't unsee those words. This I would consider more passive or indirect bullying. It wasn't said to my face, but it was about me.
Now direct bullying? Someone I knew attacked me on such a personal level in front of others. She said horrible things. Why didn't I just up and leave? Because I wanted to try and work things out and talk to the person. That didn't work as I was being bombarded and put down further. No one stepped in to stop her. They just watched and waited. Maybe it would have been easier to walk away. But I can tell you that those chat logs still exist on my Skype? It's not hard to toss out something that hateful. As much as I want to I can't. It still hurts.
Even in games I play like League of Legends I occasionally get bullied. The, "Go shoot yourself" or /constant/ putdowns of "you suck, your bad" really adds up. Again, there is an ignore button, so why don't I press it? It's because I feel /obligated/ to defend myself. I was always taught to stand up to your fears, stand up to your bullies. I did, so where did that get me? Bullied even more. I keep trying, /hoping/ that I could be the one to make the bully stop but nope. Even if I did ignore them, they would still be saying the same things and my team would see it. It's just as bad knowing is shit talking behind your back.
Furthermore, blocking/ignoring them isn't fully solving the problem. Why? They're still going to say things, still bully you even if it's not directly. Bullying needs to stop, and if it's not stopped by its core (the person) then they will continue to bully through any means they can. It's not right and I know I'm bitching about people being bullies but when someone you /care/ for dies because they have been emotionally, mentally, and physically bullied to the point where they fell apart because no one helped them? Yeah, there is a fucking problem.
There was a girl who was bullied and committed suicide. That bully said "I don't give a fuck that she died." and that information about the bully was released. I do and do not agree with what happened. That bully would have been harassed and bullied for the crime and insensitivity for what she said and did. Maybe, just MAYBE she'll learn her lesson and now know what it's like to be bullied. At the same time, she was younger and younger children shouldn't /always/ be treated like adults. Even though..you know, bullied to the point of suicide. But still.
On the note of trolling. I hate trolls. Why? Mostly because they are hateful and are assholes? Why do I say this? Because trolls with say things like, "Oh I fucked your mom" or something to that regard. Well, I don't have problems discussing my family, but let me be that person to say, no, I never knew my real mom. I am adopted. I don't know why she didn't want me, but she put me up for adoption. Sadly, for my friend when the same incident occurred with her her reply was, "My mom died of cancer when I was 7." that troll proceeded to say, "That's okay, I'm a necrophiliac." it was completely uncalled for and insensitive. I don't care if that's trolling or funny, you don't simply dismiss something like that.
Trolls I think don't want anger, but any /emotional/ response. I've known trolls that trolled about rape and suicide (two of my triggers; when I say trigger I mean, you don't fucking joke about that shit, trigger, not the hysteric crying). As I said, I believe it is insensitive and ignorant. I doubt any trolls have actually been through the matter they are trolling, but if they could even see what it would be like for that other person, maybe they wouldn't troll about such things.
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