16 February 2009

Cyberbullying

I've actually heard of the Megan Meier case before, but I didn't know it occurred so close to St Louis. That story is absolutely devastating--to think that an adult, a parent, would take advantage of a child like that, especially when she knew the girl had issues with depression.

I feel like people have stopped thinking before they speak (or type, in this particular instance). People, myself included, don't think about what kind of impact words can have on others. The internet definitely makes it easier to forget that other people are affected by what you say. Take blogs, for instance--writing here, in MY room on MY computer on MY blog feels so much more personal than it really is. That feeling of intimacy inspires some people to write things that shouldn't be written--opinions on other people, too much about yourself, etc.

I know that some blogging sites, like LiveJournal, allow you to vary the privacy of posts. You can have public posts, friends-only posts and private posts, all in the same blog. Still, the user may not always make the right choice. When you're angry and you're ranting and raving, you don't consider the feelings of others (generally). You want the world to know you hate so-and-so and what a horrible person so-and-so is.

It's hard to keep your feelings to yourself, and bottling things up never helps. If I just have to tell SOMEONE, I find that ranting (aloud) to a close friend who knows you are just letting off steam is very helpful. If I just have to write it down or type it out, I do that--into a journal or word document. I password protect those word documents, and usually end up deleting them when I'm cleaning out my computer files.

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