Technology enables people to distance themselves from a situation even while they are in it. Cyberbullies cannot see the pain they cause and thus cannot imagine the turmoil they put their victims through. In fact, many cyberbullies who were ousted and questioned after the fact said that the act made them feel funny and powerful.

When it comes to school children bullying others, it is often rooted in perceptions of status. Insecurities are a major factor in bullying and pupils often try to put their peers down to feel superior.
This is true for adults, too.
It’s common for people to try and discredit or bully others based on a difference of opinion or a sense of superiority. Celebrities aren’t immune to this either. Not long ago, actress Kelly Marie Tran deleted her Instagram account after constant abuse by Star Wars fans.

There’s no denying that cyberbullies get a sort of kick out of targeting others online. After a while, it can almost become an addiction of sorts where they need a constant fix.
Anyone who’s ever been part of a Facebook or Twitter feud can attest to the fact that it’s too easy to get entangled. These platforms make it hard to ignore incoming messages. It’s easy to just type back a reply or keep logging on to re-read the messages.

Studies have found that there is a strong connection between previous victims and current cyberbullies. Much like violence in real life, virtual bullying is a perpetuating cycle of anger. Therefore, the problem continues to cycle and gets worse each time.
These aren’t the only reasons cyberbullies do what they do. But these are the more common reasons found among those who have investigated cases of cyberbullying.

Trolling is when a bully will seek out to intentionally upset others by posting inflammatory comments online. Trolling may not always be a form of cyberbullying, but it can be used as a tool to cyberbully when done with malicious and harmful intent. These bullies tend to be more detached from their victims, and do not have a personal relationship.

Harassment is a broad category under which many types of cyberbullying fall, but it generally refers to a sustained and constant pattern of hurtful or threatening online messages sent with the intention of doing harm to someone.

Outing, also known as doxing, refers to the act of openly revealing sensitive or personal information about someone without their consent for purposes of embarrassing or humiliating them. This can range from the spreading of personal photos or documents of public figures to sharing an individual’s saved personal messages in an online private group. 

Trickery is similar to an outing, with an added element of deception. In these situations, the bully will befriend their target and lull them into a false sense of security. Once the bully has gained their target’s trust, they abuse that trust and share the victim’s secrets and private information with a third party or multiple third parties.

Cyberstalking is a particularly serious form of cyberbullying that can extend to threats of physical harm to the child being targeted. It can include monitoring, false accusations, threats, and is often accompanied by offline stalking. It is a criminal offense and can result in restraining order, probation, and even jail time for the perpetrator.

This type of online bullying constitutes posting about or directly sending insults and profanity to their target. Flaming is similar to trolling, but will usually be a more direct attack on a victim to incite them into online fights.

It is a very big problem and at a global level, there are people who unfortunately do not take it seriously and the only solution they give is to block the user who bothers them, which is reasonable but in the vast majority of times does not help at all or even worsens the whole situation. We should report them and ask for help even if at some point we think is not a big deal a few comments because at some point it can get worse.
We must also educate ourselves and avoid this type of activity since we do not know what consequences we are going to have at the end of the day.

-Ela Martinez