Almost Half of America Has Been Harassed Online. Does This Include You?
A new survey of 1,007 Americans over 18 was conducted online from May 20th through 22nd of this year. The subject was online harassment and although the results weren't shocking, they were eye-opening on some levels.
Of course women were harassed more than men, Facebook was the place where most of the abuse occurred and the effect on some of the respondents was life-changing. But not everyone who responded to our Facebook/Phone-in Question felt that online bullying was any worse than what they went through before the internet was a "thing".
Our Facebook friend Robert Miller said this:
"Online or not, I don't think the avenue in which it's done should matter. Bullying is exactly that and people need to realize it's traumatic results stems from way before an online avenue was available and still is a haunting experience. . ."
He went on to say:
"There may be people who say it's worse through the ways it can be done now on the internet and it's more public and accessible through the web, but my own personal experiences, the cyber version doesn't feel as degrading compared to it being done in actual real time..."
Some other stats from this study indicate- -
More than two-thirds (67%) of those harassed online said they knew their harasser in real life. In the under- 35 age group, that number rose to 72%.
Another sad and telling comment came from our FB friend Toshea-Lemme Womble:
"I think it's interesting, this bullying thing. When I was a kid we got bullied a lot but it was more about non-acceptance. . . . Online has provided an entirely new way to be mean without the confrontation. At least in my day, (the 80's) there was a chance you could get your a$$ kicked for bullying. Not excited for my daughter going into middle school next year"
I want to thank everyone who shared their thoughts on this subject and if you'd like to see the complete survey, just click here.