Do you need a Twitter-sitter?

It appears that some users on social networking site Twitter really do need somebody to watch over them whilst they tweet away. Recent stories in the media have shown at best a lack of common sense from users and at worst a basic lack of human respect for individuals; it’s probably more a mix of both.

With the recent revelations that users on Twitter revealed the name of a rape victim and then proceeded to abuse her over the social network, it means that either people aren’t thinking before they write online, or Twitter and other social networks have become a platform for the most vile people across the world. The victim had already obtained a court order that prevented her from being named, but that didn’t seem to matter to Twitter users. According to reports, the victim’s name was retweeted and tweeted so many times that it was trending over the weekend, meaning it was one of the most talked about things on Twitter at that time. It’s pretty sickening to be honest. I have never once thought of naming somebody on a social network like that, especially somebody who is a victim of such a heinous crime.

Not content with naming the victim, users then went on to abuse her and degrade her further. In my recent article about cyberbullying, this is exactly the type of example I referred to. These users hide behind their keyboard; they write these vile things and then watch when the media hype around the social network increases tenfold. These bullies aren’t school children. A lot of them are grown adults. Grown adults, who you’d think would know better. Clearly not. It’s obvious that instead of employing babysitters for their own children, they need to employ Twitter-sitters so they don’t overstep the mark when taking to the site to tweet their thoughts. Most of these thoughts aren’t even needed anyway.

What needs to be done? Well, obviously this problem won’t be resolved overnight, no problem can be. It’s important that the correct safeguards are put in place, because prosecuting every user who retweets or tweets something that is offensive and illegal would be a logistical nightmare. Ordinary people need to understand that just because they are writing online, they still have to stick to the same laws as in everyday life. The same rules and laws apply, even though it may be through a social network. It is all about basic human understanding, and the vast majority of us respect and abide by the law so why do some of the same users think they don’t have to when they are tweeting?

It’s not clear why these people tweeted or retweeted what they did over the weekend, but it is clear that the authorities and the government are determined to make examples out of them, and that’s a good thing. Whilst legislation is being drawn up and discussed by the government, I think it is important to shine a light on such cases of illegality on social networks, and to make examples of those users who commit offences  so that other users can see real life consequences of what happens when something illegal is published on a social network.

Cyberbullying: How Serious is it?

We’ve all read stories of cyberbullying. We’ve all watched news reports of it. We are all at risk of cyberbullying as well. Social media is increasingly becoming a tool for bullies in their quest for misery and to inflict emotional pain on their victims. According to a report by the Department of Education, published in November 2011, almost 35% of young people and children in the UK have been cyberbullied. The most common forms of abuse were text messages and emails. The staggering statistic is not the percentage of young people who have been cyberbullied, it’s that almost 30% of those young people didn’t tell anybody about the abuse. What is important to realise is that text messages and emails are private to young people. Parents don’t have access to these in most cases, and so surely it’s hard to monitor?

Social media is a new way whereby bullies are increasingly targeting their victims. Hiding behind their keyboard, bullies can inflict as much hurt and pain as they want, with seemingly little consequences. In fact, I watched a story yesterday where a family was grieving the loss of their loved one, a young boy who took his own life because of cyberbullying. It is tragic that cowards behind a keyboard can cause this. The family, grieving and hurt by their loss, set up an online memorial page on the social network Facebook. It was a place where friends and family could mourn the loss of their friend and relative, and remember him in the way they wanted, by leaving messages of love and by sharing their memories. This was not to be though. The same cyberbullies who had targeted the young boy took to his memorial page to further inflict pain on his already suffering family and friends. The father of the boy said it was even strangers who got involved who just wanted to spread hate. Why? It’s simple: people can log onto a website and get away with it. They can set up a page in a fake name, and use it to cause pain and suffering for people. Surely this has to stop. I know there are privacy options on social networking sites, and tools in place so that people can stop others getting into contact with them, but clearly this isn’t doing a great deal.

Another example I would use of cyberbullying is the use of user-generated websites, such as YouTube. Anybody in the world can produce a video and upload it to the site. The video is then viewable for everybody across the world to watch. Great? Yes, great if you want to get yourself noticed, and great if you have a real talent. What strikes me though is the fact that users are able to comment on these videos. We know that some people may give positive feedback, others may give negative feedback. The negative feedback is the one we should be aware of. Negative feedback is all well and good if you’re performing on The X Factor, Britain’s Got Talent, The Voice or any other talent show; but that feedback is supposed to be constructive from professional people. The users on YouTube, who decide to ‘critique’ a video of someone singing, on the whole, aren’t professionals from the industry. They are, for the most part, people who want to be abusive to other users. Yes, there is the option to remove the comment tool from videos; but where’s the fun in that? People won’t get the comments they long for, and the attention they crave. Maybe it is fair game, if you put yourself out there in such a manner, then you lose your right to only positive comments, much like people who enter talent shows on television.

But what we need to realise is that people should not be able to get away with bullying, just because it isn’t happening face to face. Bullying on all levels needs to be stopped, and sanctions put in place to combat it. I mentioned just one example of a young person who took their own life as the result of being a victim of cyberbullies, but I can guarantee that there are plenty of the same stories across the UK. It has to stop. Our next generation should not have to put up with it; if it happened at school, there would be sanctions and punishments to adhere to; why not the same online?

Regardless of what happens now, it needs to happen fast. The government needs to act quickly, in order to prevent more tragedies across the UK. In my opinion, what has happened is simple: bullies have more tools at their disposal, thus meaning they can spread hate across a number of formats. Young people are constantly bombarded with the idea of fame and fortune. They want to replicate what they see on television; sadly to say, television ain’t all that real, a lot of it is blown up for entertainment. I understand that people who upload videos of themselves are fair game for comments, be it positive or negative. But you just do a search on YouTube; how many people on there are clearly disabled or have severe learning difficulties? Loads. Why were they able to upload videos? Who is caring for them? It’s a question I can’t answer, but perhaps education needs to start at home so that cyberbullying can be minimised. Sanctions should be put in place at home first, and then the Internet needs to be dealt with. But, realistically, can we really ever prevent cyberbullying or are the bullies becoming too creative?