This is and isn't about technology. Mostly isn't. But digital media allow for and expose a dangerous blend of two very different aspects of humanness, one destructive, the latter normative: social cruelty and teenage vulnerability (a lot of focus recently having been on the female variety). The cruelty, the extreme version called trolling – which feeds on outrage and weaponizes cultural … [Read more...] about Teens, social media & trolls: Toxic mix
Search Results for: suicide
What is bullying & what can be done about it: Lit review
What a project and what a service to anybody trying to get a handle on a long-standing social problem! I'm referring to the recently released "Bullying in a Networked Era: A Literature Review" of more than 150 surveys, articles and other references from the Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University, the latest research on bullying all in one place. Although bullying is by … [Read more...] about What is bullying & what can be done about it: Lit review
‘Compassion mobs’ & other digital-age nonviolence stands
You've probably heard the phrase "kill 'em with kindness" for disarming detractors, well in social media it's more like swamping – flooding – public, sometimes collective, cruelty with kindness, acceptance, respect, etc. That was a powerful tactic used by students I wrote about in Part 1 of this series, but it has been practiced to huge ripple effect by students in Nova Scotia, Iowa, Minnesota, … [Read more...] about ‘Compassion mobs’ & other digital-age nonviolence stands
Individual & social ’embodiment’ online: Key eating-disorders study
"Eating disorders affect between 1 and 4 percent of young adult women" and are on the increase, diagnoses having "risen more than 50% since the 1970s," according to the authors of "Pro-anorexia Communities and Online Interaction: Bringing the Pro-ana Body Online." But, before this important study, rare coverage in the news media did little besides increase speculation that these communities are … [Read more...] about Individual & social ’embodiment’ online: Key eating-disorders study
The highly problematic term ‘cyberbullycide’
Don't use it, and be skeptical of any so-called authority who does use it. "Cyberbullycide" (or "bullycide") is not clever, is not accurate, and its use could be harmful. Among other reasons why it isn't accurate (see this by prevention specialist Patti Agatston), the term suggests that cyberbullying is the sole cause of a suicide, and suicide prevention experts tell us that "suicidal behavior is … [Read more...] about The highly problematic term ‘cyberbullycide’