A lot of people know that cyberbullying is happening, but not a lot of people are taking it into their own hands and dealing with it. Yes, there are people who do take a stand but it has not be substantial enough were incidents are becoming fewer. If parents, schools, and professionals who work with social networking sites teamed together in campaigns against cyberbullying users would see a consistent message on how it is wrong to treat others that way.
In the article from teacherweb.com, “How Should Facebook and Myspace Handle Cyberbullying,” author Emily Bazelon describes how false accusations of cyberberbullying changed an individual’s life. The accusations began when his Facebook page was reported for harassment; however, this individual didn’t even have a Facebook page.
Furthermore, Bazelon describes how the individual and parents were never given answers on who actually created this fake Facebook. This showed me how you really can never trust who the person is behind the Facebook page because anyone can upload pictures of someone, create a profile, and be acting like someone else on the Internet.
Throughout this article Bazelon compared how MySpace and Facebook each handle cyberbullying issues. After reading the article I am sort of confused why MySpace has the rep it does because it seemed like this website takes this bullying more serious and takes greater steps into action than Facebook.
Then Facebook doesn’t seem to be actually admitting what is actually going on with cyberbullying or abusive use on the web because once it is reported they complete a small investigation and then just delete the page. It seems like Facebook is sweeping the bug under the rug and forgetting about the situation.
Instead of schools, parents, and social networking sites pointing fingers in the opposite direction I think that all three areas need to work together to control the amount of cyberbullying happening and implementing punishments. Bazelon wrote good arguments on how situations are and are not being handled; furthermore, was being realistic about the internet and today’s generation of users.
Writing, Research, & Technology 