Internet Bullying.

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Posting something cruel about somebody else online is nasty. Doing it repetitively quickly becomes bullying.

That's right. Bullying. 

Tweeting someone directly, tagging someone in a status, or a photo on Instagram, saying something nasty, humiliating or cruel about them is bullying. Doing the same without tagging the person is also bullying. Directly or indirectly, they both hurt and they're both bullying. 

I see it all the time- and in the past have definitely done it myself, as I'm sure most others have too- where you post something online about someone else, either directly to them or indirectly about them. I've also been the victim of it, as have several people I know, and it just makes me so mad. It's 2016, we all learn about bullying and not to do it from as young as five when we first join primary school- so why the heck is it still happening?!

If you're slagging somebody off regarding their lifestyle choices, sexual relationships, their family, their looks or their hobbies, and if you're doing it over and over that is bullying. Making one comment is bad enough, but to continuously keep making nasty comments is not okay, and is definitely something more people need to try and stop. 

How many of you witness someone bullying someone online and end up just scrolling past because you 'don't want to get involved'? Probably a lot of you, and this is part of where the problem lies. You should try to step in and prevent the bullying from happening, or at the very least, report the person/people writing the abusive content. 

People seem to think bullying online isn't real bullying because "they're not tagged" or "it's just words" or "I'm not hurting them". 

Wrong. Wrong, wrong, wrong. 

Words do hurt, they can have an affect on someone's emotional and mental health which can eventually lead to some quite serious problems. Just because someone isn't tagged doesn't mean they won't see it or be shown it. And it's not just words. 'Just words' can ruin someone's life, prevent them from getting a job if their potential employer looks them up on social media, embarrasses them, hurts them. Its never 'just words'. 

Bullying online isn't affected by age, either, regardless of what some people may think. It doesn't matter if you're 12, 18, 24, 60! If you're continuously attacking someone online you are a bully. Bullying still exists between adults and it still exists once you leave school. It doesn't stop being bullying just because you're not a child any more. In fact, adults bullying is almost worse than children bullying because adults should know better!

If you're bullying someone, or even making one off nasty comments about someone online, you need to seriously take a step back and re evaluate your life. Why are you doing this? Is it making their life better, or your life better? No. Are you achieving anything other than upsetting someone else? No. Is it making you look like a nasty, manipulative, vindictive coward online? Yes, pretty much. 

There's never an excuse to bully anybody, ever. If you don't like somebody, and their online presence bothers you that much then behave like a mature adult and block them from your social media. Don't write about them, look them up or even think about them. You'll feel far happier cutting someone you don't like out of your life and they'll be far happier not having you to harass them. 


Bullying is seriously not okay, but it's even worse online where people feel they aren't doing anything wrong and/or won't get caught out. Your actions hurt and they're also not okay- just because you're hiding behind a keyboard doesn't mean you are any better than a bully on the playground who physically hurts people. Sometimes words have an even worse affect. 

Next time you go to 'slag someone off' online, think about why you're doing it. Is it going to make you look cool, strong, clever? No. It's going to make you look immature, nasty and childish. Pause, think about what you're doing and then simply don't do it. There are block buttons on social media for a reason, so use them. 

Love from,
Florence Grace

Like this? Why not try... People throw rocks at things that shine | Sugar and spice and all things bitch- wait, what?

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