Bullies and Internet Hate

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There are people in this world of ours, who for their own unfortunate reasons, make it their purpose to be hateful towards others. They go by many names and descriptions: cruel, mean, demeaning, ignorant. Trolls. Bullies.


The five posts I linked above - the first, an editorial from the New York Times; the second through fifth blog posts by Amanda Palmer - all deal with this question of bullying. Is it as widespread as it seems? What exactly is bullying? What can people do about it?

I was never really bullied. I mean, sure, I got the same isolated snide remarks that most people go through at some point during middle school, but seriously, it's middle school. It's pretty much par for the course. I say that to emphasize that this isn't a "personal experience" sort of thing, as much as "what I've seen". What I've seen, though, isn't pretty.

It's in the news fairly often: stories of children, teens, and even adults facing long-term verbal and emotional abuse, i.e. "bullying". Sometimes, it ends tragically. Sometimes, it receives less attention, and people go on suffering. Often the bullies themselves are sufferers of abuse or their own emotional struggles - it's this self-sustaining cycle that I find most troubling. Never, however, is this bullying justified.

One common thread that's emerged lately is the frequency at which the internet is used for bullying. I think I can understand some of the problem here: with the lack of face-to-face communication, the natural empathy that accompanies conversation is lost. In some cases, comments not meant to be taken seriously can be read in a much crueler manner than is intended. However in others, an anonymity-spawned dehumanization of victims lead to intentional demeaning commentary; I still wonder if the people who do so would be as willing to bully others face-to-face.

Is the internet doomed this as a wasteland of bullies and trolls? Not in any sense. Far more than negativity, I have seen time and time again supportive, helpful, and generally nice people on the internet. They may not receive as much news, but their impact is nonetheless felt. This gives me hope, hope that people may still have some goodness left in them.