Back in the old days, if you were unfortunate enough to suffer at the hands of the school bully, it would usually manifest itself in a Chinese burn and some name calling. Your dad would furnish you with helpful advice such as “kick him in the knackers and run away”. However, in these days of social media, you’re more likely to find adults bullying adults. It’s more common than ever … and it’s getting more serious than mere name-calling.

A recent study in the US showed that 40% of adults had experienced some form of online harassment. This can range from name-calling to stalking or even sexual threats. Usually these events occur through social media or gaming platforms.

Types

This specific report from Pew Research Internet Project focussed on six abuse types:

• Offensive name-calling

• Attempts to purposefully embarrass

• Harassment for a sustained period of time

• Online threats to physically harm

• Online stalking

• Sexual harassment

Gaming

It’s fascinating and highly disturbing to see how women appear to be unwelcome in the world of online gaming. 44% said that such forums are generally aimed at men. Games reviewer Anita Sarkeesian received death threats, following her views on how women are portrayed in video games. The threats became so intense that she even had to leave her home.

Whilst women tend to suffer sexual threats and stalking, men are usually found to be on the receiving end of offensive name-calling. The usual victims are young adults between the ages of 18 and 29. Of the 40% to have experienced online abuse, 65% of them fall into that age group.

So what can victims do when they receive such abuse? According to the report’s author, the majority choose to just ignore it. But before joining a social media platform, it might be worth looking into their online abuse policy. There are options with Facebook and Twitter to report a user’s comments or Tweets. This can result in the abuser being banned from the site. This is the most logical step to take with anything such as name-calling. Although if it involves racist or homophobic language, further action really should be considered. But what about more extreme abuse?

Police

Stalking and threats of physical harm or sexual violence do call for more extreme measures. We’ve seen recently with the case of Chloe Madeley that her online abusers have been reported to the police. It’s definitely the most sensible course of action. If anyone wandered up to you in the street making those sorts of threats, you’d do something about it. So why should you react differently because it’s online? Don’t just ignore it. Make a note of their details, report them to the website, block them and then hand their details over to the police.

As with any form of bullying, do not tolerate it. Stamp it out early and show people that you’re not willing to be a victim. Before you know it you’ll be back online with no fear and able to go about your normal business; which is looking at photos of cats and having a moan about X Factor.

For more on this story and the original study click here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-29741802

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