Everyone has different responses to cyberbullying. It can cause all sorts of stress leading to depression and having no motivation to do anything. Cyberbullying increases health problems and feelings of sadness. Personally I have a small experience being cyber bullied. I know what it's like to be put in the situation. Little words hurt and has caused me to have lower self esteem. I've been using the Internet for as long as I can remember. From joining chat rooms and creating a Twitter and Instagram account at a young age, so many people are out there being able to say anything they want. I can't help what others thought or said about me. It's so easy for online trolls to harass anyone because they think they can easily hide their identity. It's nothing face to face.

How I would deal with trolls

Thankfully, I have never been trolled or cyber bullied. I consider trolling to be a growing epidemic in the online community and that it can be very difficult to separate yourself from it. Since I have never experienced it myself, I can only imagine how diminishing it must feel to be in that sort of situation. I believe that the way I would deal with trolling is by ignoring it and working on my own self-improvement. I'm not trying to sound naive by saying to ignore trolling, I understand that it is something that follows you. This is just a matter of personal opinion and what I would do. Since everyone is wrapped up in social media and we all have at least one form of it, it is difficult to pull yourself away from it. But when it comes to being cyber bullied that might be the best option for ones mental state. I would delete all forms of my social media and focus on the things I can control, which is myself. I am unable to control what others think of me or what they choose to say about me. Controlling the controllable is what my coaches constantly tell me. It makes no sense in worrying about things that are out of your reach. Something you can control is those you surround yourself with. By surrounding yourself with people that make you feel good is key when you are in an upsetting situation. Ignoring what someone else is saying, deleting all forms of social media, controlling what I am able to, and surrounding myself with positive people are all the ways I would deal with trolling if I was ever out into that scenario.

Trolls >:(

I honestly really  love this unit. Why? Because this unit can just be a eye opener for some people, make them think that trolls are a serious thing and that “trolling” isnt a okay thing to do. That hiding behind a screen spreading negativity is a coward and low thing to do . And learning about this in a unit can change peoples thoughts and views about the internet! Like earlier when I read one of our own classmates post about how she took a break from social media , I love how our class is taking this lesson seriously and everyone seems to be thoroughly enjoying it

I am actually glad that we had a unit that involved this subject because not everyone knows not to do things like this. Anyone in our class could be a troll and you wouldn’t even know. I feel like having a unit about trolls would affect on them if they were a troll and maybe help them think about what they did wrong. I feel like this was a powerful unit that everyone enjoyed writing their essay about and this was a very easy until just because their are so many sides to cyber bullying. Im really glad you chose to have a unit like this!!!

Could Repealing Net Neutrality Impact Trolling on the Internet? The Answer Is Yes.

Net Neutrality
(n) : The principle that internet service providers should enable access to all content and applications regardless of the source, and without favoring or blocking particular products or websites.

For those of you who have not tuned into the media today (Twitter, Facebook, etc.) the repeal of net neutrality by the FCC, has been quite the topic of discussion. Today, in fact, was the day when official measures were taken to determine whether or not net neutrality should be terminated. Unfortunately, the vote to repeal ruled in favor, 3:2. This has been very troubling to hear but it is good to note that most internet platforms, such as Netflix, choose to defend internet users because the ruling of this vote is completely absurd. The internet is such an important tool in our advancing society and the fact that the FCC wishes to rid free internet from users for economic purposes is mind-boggling to me.  However, there is still hope for Net Neutrality be here to stay, it all depends on the future and what happens with this vote. It might not be repealed for a while, who knows? We can still fight for this, it's not over just yet. By repealing net neutrality (if it is to go through to Congress and pass) would this prevent the issue of cyberharassment and trolling to be minimized? Yes, yes it would greatly minimize trolls on the internet (somehow) but they will always remain present and hidden. Trolling continues to be an on-going issue for our democracy, especially with freedom of speech being guaranteed to all American citizens under the first ammendment. I am clearly against the repealing of net neutrality and the negative impacts it will cause. Although, not all the outcomes will be negative. What will we gain if we let the trolls and the FCC triumph? We stand together strong, opposing this issue to repeal in addition to all the trolls trying to tear us down. What do you think about this vote? What are your thoughts or feelings on net neutrality? Should it stay or should it go? Where do we go from here? What will society be without the internet being free?

Behind the Masks

They say when someone picks on other people for something, it is really because they themselves are insecure about who they are, so they feel the need to take it out on other people. It could also be a result of a bad childhood or traumatic experience. This also applies to online bullying. Now, I am in no way defending the horrendous actions that people take on the Internet that can lead to an unfortunate outcome, but instead, I am simply viewing the issue from a different perspective. Those trolls out there are people, human beings, who have, for some reason or another, decided to spend their time on the Internet harassing people. Their minds are so messed up and warped that they find this behavior to be fine and even amusing. They need professional help to sort out the issues that they may have, and sadly, not everyone has an opportunity to. I think what Lindy West did about her own troll was a very effective thing to do. Not only did it get them to stop the harassment, but her words truly affected him and made him realize the error of his ways. This wouldn't be effective for every troll sadly, but I truly believe there is a way to reach out to these troubled individuals to get them to stop the harm they are doing before it is too late.

trolliolies

For the past couple weeks I've been on a social media "cleanse" and it has taught me a lot. We are always told that we need to put down our devices and disconnect from the world once in a while, but people rarely do it. I always wanted to take a break from my social media, but there was something stopping me. When I finally made the decision and deleted all my social media off my phone it was strange. I was so used to pulling out my phone anytime a thought popped into my head or something happened. I was accustomed to filling my time scrolling through vine threads on twitter instead of doing something useful like homework or reading. It didn't take long for me to disengage, though partly because I know I've never actually been attached to my phone like so many people today. One thing I have noticed over the past couple of weeks is that when I stopped cramming my brain with a constant streams of information, I was able to become more aware of my thoughts and think a little clearer. Although I miss my friends weird snapchats and ranting about life on my spam account, I will continue using social media only to send streaks and to have conversations... and maybe watch a couple more vine threads.