Why do people cyberbully?

Sites like Facebook and Twitter are packed with people trying to ridicule other individuals and make their lives a misery, but why do they do it? What are they gaining from it?

Bullying, of course, is not a new fad. Most of us will have experienced a degree of bullying in school, perhaps as both victims and perpetrators, but it’s by no means something confined to pre-adolescent days. Well into adulthood, we can experience forms of bullying in the workplace, whether it’s a direct and undeserved dressing down in front of others, gossiping and sniggering behind someone’s back, or simply exclusion from a group.

Studies have long linked bullying with a lack of self-esteem. Many people engage in abusive behaviour because they are unhappy and filled with self-doubt, so they make attempts to lower the status and confidence of others in order to make themselves feel better. While being bullied can be a very upsetting experience, it can bring some comfort to victims to know that if the people tormenting them were genuinely happy with their own lives, they probably wouldn’t be doing it, although some studies have actually suggested it is high self-esteem and egotism that can give people the confidence to be bullies.

How is online bullying different?

Cyberbullying, however, is a relatively new development of traditional bullying thanks to technology. Whereas some studies suggest that bullies often hold high social status, the digital world has enabled even the most mild mannered of people to have a very easy outlet through which to shock, offend and grab attention. Best of all for bullies, they believe this attention can be confined entirely to cyberspace and needn’t result in any real-life ramifications for them.

It’s this perceived cloak of anonymity that can turn people who are usually reserved and unassuming into ‘keyboard warriors’, a term now recognised by Oxford Dictionaries. However, cyberbullies who assume that nothing can stop them being men and women of mystery are quite wrong.

What can you do about cyberbullying?

If you’re being bullied, harassed or otherwise annoyed by a fake Facebook account, there’s now a way you can root out the social media simpleton behind it all for yourself. Our How to Trace a Fake Facebook Account eBook is currently available for just £9.99 with the discount code FBTRACE, and will give you clear steps to follow if you want to find out who exactly is the source of your Facebook frustration.