So you think that bullying just includes physical poking, beating or making someone a social pariah… Huh? Think over again! There is one more type of bullying that you must be conscious of, no matter if you are a technical professional or a not-so-tech-savvy individual. Yes, I’m talking about cyberbullying on social media! This giant monster of cyberbullying on Facebook is the chief cause of some unfortunate consequences including cyberbullying suicides and several other disastrous events.

How to report cyberbullying on social media?

So, let us talk about cyberbullying!

As we enter the information era, Wi-Fi and handy smart phones make almost everything manageable to anybody from any-place. Despite the fact that it is way too easy to transfer money, order a pizza or stay in touch with long distant folks at the moment. It is furthermore easy for the wicked people to spread the off beam content and info about us with no trouble. Thanks to the cyberspace, cyberbullying turn out to be a horrendous nightmare.

Imagine!

The same smartphone that is our biggest playmate can be a source of relentlessly spreading abuses and disgrace from the World Wide Web that knows no restraints.

So, let us take a look at what is cyberbullying, how to report cyberbullying on social media and stop it from afflicting our life.

What does cyberbullying mean?

Before discussing how to report cyberbullying on social media, let me first define cyberbullying for you.

• So, what is cyberbullying?

Here’s the definition of cyberbullying:

“Cyberbullying is when somebody posts a photo, video or mails something on a social media platform with the purpose to offend or threaten another individual.”

By the same token, a cyberbully can be a person, of any age who is capable enough to use a computer or laptop. That’s it!

Yes! At the moment, it is way too easy to engage in things like intimidating, bullying, mocking someone, or spreading chatter about him or her. All you need to know is how to use the Internet.

Now, let us get to some significant facts about cyberbullying on social media.

• How is cyberbullying different from face-to-face bullying?

Cyberbullying on social media, these days, have more power than face-to-face bullying, cheers to the easy access to a large audience by way of incredible social media platforms. The ability to be “anonymous” on the Web encourages cyberbullies and qualifies a behaviour that may not befall otherwise. At present, social media makes it easy for teens to bully each other, who turn out to be the primary victims of cyberbullying.

You must have seen a lot of kids who are younger than sixteen years of age setting up their Facebook accounts. Of course, they lie about their age figures just to set it up! Unfortunately, there is no info available on how many kids are, at this time, present on Facebook.

When these kids are online, they think as if they are unidentifiable and could do and say things they never would in a normal social condition. In fact, every so often, kids taking part in cyberbullying hardly know the person being cyberbullied. And at times, they don’t even know them at all.

So, how to deal with cyberbullying? How to report cyberbullying on social media? Well, to report cyberbullying, you first need to identify the signs of cyberbullying.

Visible signs of cyberbullying

So, here I’m going to discuss the actual signs of cyberbullying. Let’s check them out:

• Intolerable or intimidating verbal messages.
• Name-calling, efforts to control someone’s activities by blackmailing to uncover awkward information.
• Humiliating, passing sexist remarks, or posting aggressive pictures or videos.
• A never-ending storm of messages, emails or texts, no matter if they are bullying in nature.
• Blazing messages that express resentment and discourteous language.
• Misleading someone and forcing to share private info.
• Posting a picture on a polling website to make fun of a person’s appearance.
• Impersonation or masquerade to shame or humiliate an individual’s identity.
• Cyber Stalking together with sending scary or hostile messages.
• Sexting as well as sexual exploitation, harassment or solicitation.
• Deceptions about someone to make them appear evil.

So, now that you identify all the relevant signs and forms of cyberbullying, you need to search for this new kind of bullying and observe it.

• Now, is it possible to stop cyberbullying on social media?

Yes, it is! Thankfully, it’s possible to take effective measures to report cyberbullying on social media. How? How to report cyberbullying on social media? To start with, if you are cyberbullied on Facebook, don’t panic! First of all, comfort yourself and take a deep breath. Prompt yourself that you have a safe place to assemble yourself before you respond to stop cyberbullying.

Coming to the main question — How to report cyberbullying on social media?

In this article, I’m going to discuss some of the best suggestions to report cyberbullying on social media. So, pin your ears back and start reading all the way to the end.

1. Use your social media account wisely.

Yes, your Facebook account may enclose a lot of info about you such as your pictures and chats. So, you must use it smartly. Never undervalue the importance of using strong passwords to keep your social media accounts secure.  By the same token, you must log out of your social media accounts when not using them. Thus and so, if your device gets lifted or your account gets hacked, your social media profiles won’t be easily reached. Besides, if you are using a public computer or device, it’s indispensable to log out of your account. After all, you would never like taking the peril of having somebody logging into your Facebook account, reading your posts or making fun of them. Right?

2. Choose friends carefully

Even though it is completely okay to make friends online, it is important that you select whom you make friends with sensibly. Remember that you don’t have to just accept every Tom, Dick, and Harry as a friend. Moreover, if you find somebody who starts to be despicable or nasty, don’t wait up for the moment when things get poorer. Block that mischief straight-away.

3. Don’t post private problems

Posting your personal problems on social media can have adverse effects. It is better not to talk about your personal issues with somebody who is not your close friend. Don’t be an open book to your Facebook connections that are unfamiliar to you. People may perhaps use your private information that you share openly against you.

4. Check your messages

Dredge up that as there is no voice in your texts, people may read between the lines and consider things in another way. So, read your text messages over and over again before you send them. Settle up if there needs to be some elucidation or if you need to add an emoticon or frame your letter otherwise. In this way, you can make sure that your note stumbles upon as you want it to.

Strike a note that if taken the wrong way, you may hurt someone’s feelings or obtain a counter-attack. Try not to use a lot of shorthand or abbreviations. Over and above, if you hurt somebody’s feelings, intentionally or not deliberately, make an apology and clarify – right away. It will save someone from becoming a cyberbully.

5. Don’t ever send your nude pictures to anyone.

Sending your nudes is just about an awful idea at all times. Before all else, girls are susceptible to this. If you are a young lady, then the chances are that you might have received requests to send your nude snaps to your boyfriends. Isn’t it? Well, if that’s the case, then trust me; boys don’t reciprocate this gratitude of faith and conviction. They, every so often, end up leaking these nudes, showing them off to their workmates or classmates. Indeed, the person you’re sending your nude to may be mature and honest right now. But are you sure they will carry on to be dependable far ahead? No? So, think about it!

6. Watch out for certain subjects

We all have thoughts and ideas on all topics, but there are some matters that we need to be more conscious of when offering our view. Dwell upon that the Web is a global information highway that consists of an assortment of philosophies, values, beliefs, genders and eternities. So, what is good enough to talk about in your country may not be appropriate in another.

So, I’d advise you to be humble to people while debating over inflammatory subjects such as religious convictions, beliefs, political affairs, feminism, or faith. People can be somewhat sensitive to these issues and feelings and Internet do not mingle well. It is all right to have an outlook, but brood over others’ opinions as well. Don’t ever hurt somebody online on purpose, just to win an argument. It doesn’t work at all and may turn into one of the cyberbullying cases.

7. Walk a mile in someone’s shoes

Yes! To stop cyberbullying, you need to stop yourself from being a bully on your own. Take a moment and think — How would you feel if somebody bullied you? Recall that timeworn yet relevant proverb “walking a mile in someone’s shoes.” Think about how the other person would feel might curb your belligerence. Dredge up that forwarding despicable message endows the cyberbullies and discomforts the sufferers. Even if you don’t appreciate somebody, you should be decent and not go down to the cyberbully’s level. Treat folks just the same way you wish to be treated.

8. Don’t message something private on chat.

If you have anything that’s way too private to share, it’s better to chat one-to-one to the individual on the phone. Your text messages can be misrepresented or directed to the wrong person accidentally. It may further be used by cyberbullies to bother you. If you don’t want others to see or read your private information, then better not send it.

9. Seek out for the key signs of cyberbullying

Public embarrassment

One of the major signs of cyberbullying is when the cyberbully hassles you using public humiliation. The bully won’t openly contact you. Instead, he/she may use any of these strategies:

• Post embarrassing messages on Facebook or any other social media platform.
• Spread buzzes and blather using social media, mails, and messages.
• Share photographs or videos that are awkward or uncomfortable. These media files may even be reformed intending to embarrass you.
• Spread offensive pictures, abuses or gossips about you on Facebook.

Masquerade

This one is less apparent, but one of the most dangerous types of cyberbullying. It comes about when the cyberbully attacks you by mimicking him or her as a way to bring about disgrace. In this case, it is harder to recognize the offender.

So, try to find these signs of cyberbullying.

10. “Google” yourself

Whatever gets online stays online! So, time and again, just Google yourself and check out what pop up. Just search your name on Google and see if any private info or pictures pops up. If you discover anything that could harm your repute or can be used by cyberbullies, get it removed right off the bat.

11. Stop replying to the cyberbully’s texts. 

If responding to the cyberbully’s messages doesn’t work, stop answering the texts, mails or other posts. Cyberbullies are looking for nothing but to provoke a reaction from their targets, so answering a text will only make things poorer.

• Don’t intimidate the bully.

Sending an intimidating mail out of frustration will only intensify the situation, and may get you suffering as well.

• Don’t answer back.

If somebody bullies you, summon up that your reaction is generally just what the bully wants. It offers them the power over you. And give it a thought — who wishes to endow a cyberbully?

• Don’t strike back.

Hitting the cyberbully back turns you into a cyberbully yourself and strengthens the bully’s attitude. So, it’s better to avoid the entire cycle of violent behavior.

12. Save the proof. 

Save every single message, mail, note, web address, or any proof that you gather from your cyberbully. Capture screenshots and record the details including time and date of every communication. Having as much material and evidence as possible about the cyberbully’s conduct will assist you to report cyberbullying on social media. So, save all the testimonies and proofs. You can report cyberbullying with no trouble by capturing, saving and displaying those pesky mails to somebody who can help. Do this even if it’s a trivial issue. You never know when things would intensify… right?

13. Talk to somebody you have faith on.

Talk about the matter to somebody you trust like a psychotherapist, analyst, counselor or just a friend or your mother. This individual could be somebody who would lend you a hand and provide some valuable assistance. See, few things are just not under your control. So, it’s better to ask for help from a trustworthy person.

14. Report cyberbullying by blocking the bully – Right away!

Yes, the best way to report cyberbullying on social media is to block your harasser right off the bat. This way, you directly put an end to the cyberbully’s offensive intimidations.

So, as soon as you are sure that all your previous messages have been saved, take any of these steps:

• Block the bully’s contact from your phone.
• Remove the person from your mailing contacts.
• Block the person on Facebook so that he/she may not be able to get in touch with you for a second time.

Use the privacy tools well to block the cyberbully.

15. Report cyberbullying to your ISP (Internet Service Provider)

Most of the events of cyberbullying and harassment intrude upon the Internet Service Provider’s terms of service. Most of these ISPs would close the account of a cyberbully straightaway. And so, you must report cyberbullying instances to the sender’s ISP abruptly. If you are using an internet monitoring software, you can do it with no trouble.

16. Report cyberbullying case to the law enforcement agency

At times, cyberbullying becomes as objectionable as a law-breaking offense. If somebody bullies you online to such an extent, report it to the crime squad directly. As soon as the law enforcement agency gets involved, they will trace the identity of the cyberbully and take an immediate action.

Join the huge battle and report cyberbullying on social media – on the dot!

Gone are the days when people used prank calls and other intimidating ways to bully someone.

At the moment, with the support of technology, they put up with cyberbullying on social media any-time and any-place. And even though you may have no idea of the harm caused, cyberbullying statistics show that this is a well-known and treacherous problem. And in my opinion, the last thing you would wish for while exploring the enormous platform of Facebook is the cyberbullying reaching your thresholds. Isn’t it?

So, how to report cyberbullying on social media? Well, with the cool and easy tips and tricks discussed above, you can be sure to win over such cyberbullying situations effortlessly. So, just keep an eye on these tips and adore the blessings of Facebook! 🙂 

Learn how to report cyberbullying on social media straight off and share the message with your loved ones. After all, you don’t want them to turn out to be the victims of cyberbullying… Right?

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