my thoughts on this unit(spolier alert)

this unit has been one of my favorite units. not only does it bring light on cyber bulling I feel it also helps those who are going threw it. it also brings awareness on this topic it enlightens us on what should and shouldn't be saying online and to other people. this unit has reminded me a lot of the movie Cyber bulling. the movie is about this typical high school girl being talked down at school and online by the different kids at school and even her bestfriend. the movie has shown the different stages of bulling and has even touched on the effects of it for an example suicide. which I believe these trolls don't realize can be an outcome to their words. sometimes I feel adults and even parents don't understand how this trolling thing can be serious. sometimes I feel as this topic isn't talked about enough and no one is doing anything about it. I don't think adults realize this is what our generation has to deal with and its not just the kids or jocks at school picking on the nerdy smaller underclassmen anymore. it could very much be the underclassmen picking on the jock online with a fake account or just by leaving a nasty comment. it seems as if things has gotten easier with bulling and the online world has helped them a lot with it. they can say what the pleases and no will do anything about it and that troll doesn't have to see that persons face or see how their words are effecting the other person. these trolls are hiding behind the screen. there are no longer scared of anything they have no problem with saying anything to anyone. and its really sad and makes going online so much harder then it has to be. I'm sure there are some people who cant even enjoy posting a picture of themselves on Instagram without getting trolls to comment hateful things. the ted talk we watched in class not that long ago really showed what women go threw and how much backlash women get for one mistake. she got a lot more then I think she should have. it wasn't all her fault however the world had made it seem like it was and it was wrong in many ways. there was people talking about her who doesn't even know her and didn't know her until the news exposed her. and they felt obligated to make their opinions known and her this young women as if she didn't already know the mistake she made. and it goes for normal girls as well and even men. one mistake and the world will ruin you no matter who you are.

I find this unit that we are learning to be very interesting and true, because it relates to us using technology in our lives. We all use social media such as Snapchat, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram and that we are always constantly on our phones 24/7 looking through people's pictures and chatting with people. Social media has been the number one way to communicate one another and that people are using their fingers more than their mouth to talk to someone. Talking to people through the internet have some pro- and con- to it. The pro- is that communicating through gadgets is more quicker and efficiently to send a replied to someone in a matter of seconds. However though, there are some people in the world that abuse the use of technology. There are people who troll and cyperbullying other people on social media. For example, people commented mean things on someone Instagram or harassing people with hatred on chat room. I think everyone has experienced trolls before in their lives or they have been trolls to someone, but I would like everyone to think for a moment, before doing so, imagine how would you feel like if they were doing the same thing that you were doing it to them. Our actions reflect the next action that we are going to take and if we want to stop cyperbullying, we have to stop giving in to the trolls and to simply ignoring them.

Every time I go on Twitter or any other form of social media I am saddened by the sight of another post about how a child, teen, or adult that took their life because of the words of someone else. The constant battery of damaging words caused another so much pain that they couldn't find any other solution to get away from it. As the internet expands it gives trolls and other bullies a larger platform to attack others. It is inevitable to get away from trolls, even if you are not the target. The hurtful comments or post are constantly on our timelines and no one can escape the negativity. The only way it seems possible is to delete every form of social media. Even still, you can hear about bullying or see it in your every day life. People feel the need to put others down because they are different from them. Somehow, making others feel inferior makes them feel superior. As a naive child, when I called my brothers mean names I would constantly be told that, "if you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all". That isn't a concept people understand or follow in our generation. People believe that everyone wants to hear what they have to say or that their negative opinions are valued. Trolls hide behind their screens making people (they more than likely don't know) feel worthless, and in some sick way they are okay with that. Trolls know what that they are doing and how they affect others but have no sense of remorse or sympathy towards others. Maybe the reason they do it is because they feel insecure themselves. That is still no excuse to be callous to another. In order to beat the trolls in this world, we need to spread as much positivity in anyway we can.

This unit was actually kind of tough to talk about because people actually loose their lives for cyber bullying and I really think it is unacceptable. People shouldn’t be treated this way we at all and we should be friends with one another instead of enemies. People think it is fun to go on the internet and say bad things, but people take things different ways. Something you think isn’t hurtful can take someone else’s life away. Its just sad how cruel people are turning into. They don’t realize it is bad until they find out something bad happened to that person. BE NICE TO OTHERS EVERYONE!!!

[KC]: Room for Debate Activity

Hi all, 

This activity is meant to help you examine both sides of the issue we've been discussing. Your job is to read each article thoroughly and complete the chart in your notebook. Be sure to click on all seven debaters to see all seven opinion pieces. For the two last columns peruse the comment section (keep in mind that the comments on NYT are monitored and must be approved before posting) and explore some of the cyberlinks embedded within the text. What seems interesting to you?

Here's the link to the New York Times Room for Debate (Trolling)

Work well! Learn something! Start to think about your own opinion on this issue!

Where it Began...

With so many technological advancements having been made in the past few decades, it is hard to remember a time when these improvements weren't such a big part of our society. With new advancements in the Internet comes those who want to use its anonymity to their advantage to do some pretty harsh things. Internet trolling has become such a common occurrence that it is now just a normal part of the Internet. It is something that most people encounter in some form in their life. Thinking about it now makes me wonder where it all began and why it is even called "trolling" to begin with. I began to become curious on when trolling was first documented on the Internet and why trolling of all things is what it is called. I did a bit of research, and according to the Oxford English dictionary, the word troll had first been used to describe people on December 14th, 1992 in the Usenet group alt.folklore.urban. This happened when one user had posted "Maybe after I post it, we could go trolling some more and see what happens." From there on out, the word was used to describe a certain type of person on the Internet and has become a part of our everyday vocabulary (sadly).

Reflecting on This Past Unit of Online and Anonymous...

Cyberbullying, Internet Hacking, the Price of Shame, and Internet Trolling

I have to say I really enjoyed this unit a lot because it discussed the issues that face the majority of us today that are online in this technological society that we live in. These problems lie underneath the surface of everything that we are already used to. Social media has played a major role in the communication of peers amongst each other in a positive way. However, it seems that social media can be a doubled-edged sword. It can be used both positively and negatively which is clearly seen in the ongoing issues of cyberbullying and trolling. This violation of privacy by these Cybernet hackers is crazy to think about because these trolls can be amongst this very campus. It is said by Farhad Manjoo in "Web Trolls Winning as Incivility Increases," that the term troll is a vague one because they hide in the shadows, their purpose is unknown, and who they're associated with is a mystery. Even though these trolls seek to exploit, unveiling them and shedding light on the subject is only going to encourage it. This article that we just read in class posted by The New York Times was a very interesting one to read because I have never experienced that before, but it gave me perspective. I value my privacy and wouldn't want anyone meddling with my information, especially if I wouldn't think to do the same. Cyberbullying and public humiliation are root causes of the shame that individuals have experienced because, with everything put out for the public eye to see, those same people feel a sense of vulnerability that is indescribable. This concept of shame was exemplified in the TED talk presented to us by Monica Lewinsky, who is a walking testimony of how the amount of bad press she received back when she was accused of sexual misconduct with Bill Clinton, has affected her immensely. However, it was swept under the rug and Lewinsky took a bad hit. The amount of shame she felt was crippling, immobilizing her to live a life without being referred to as a "slut." She called the modern age of culture, "a culture of humiliation," which is an accurate statement and Lewinsky experienced that first hand. The quote that really stood out to me was when she was wrapping up her speech going on to say that, "we must learn to speak with intention, rather than attention. We all deserve compassion in this world." This unit gives us perspective, I found it very compelling.