Cyberbullying and Online Privacy

1. Reference

1.1. Breguet, T. (2007). Cyberbullying. The Rosen Publishing Group. Ramzan, N. (2013). Social media retrieval. London: Springer. Trolley, B., & Hanel, C. (2010). Cyber kids, cyber bullying, cyber balance. Thousand Oaks, Calif.: Corwin Press. Schneider, S. K., O'Donnell, L., Stueve, A., & Coulter, R. W. (2012). Cyberbullying, school bullying, and psychological distress: A regional census of high school students. American Journal of Public Health, 102(1), 171-177. von Marées, N., & Petermann, F. (2012). Cyberbullying: An increasing challenge for schools. School Psychology International, 33(5), 467-476.

2. Conclusion

2.1. In summation, cyberbullying and online privacy are critical global concerns. The two areas all entail user privacy intrusion and harassment. Cyberbullying requires that users do not share sensitive or private data or report cases of harassment. Online privacy is impossible with social media; the implication is that users must be more careful when uploading data online.

3. Relationship between Cyber Bullying and Online Privacy

3.1. Cyberbullying and privacy are closely related in practice and theory. Cyberbullying entails the harassment of a person equivalent to traditional schoolyard bullying. Online privacy is about the protection of confidential data and profile in the digital platforms (Awan & Blakemore, 2011). Cyber bullying can include trolling and image tarnishing using a user’s uploaded photos and content. When one sends unsolicited material or bully messages, user privacy is infringed, and the act amounts to cyberbullying (Breguet, 2007). Such material is private and confidential unless authorized for public use is given. The bullying activities undermine private space of a person. Cyberbullying adversely affects the psychological and social lives of victims. Similarly, infringement of user privacy either by bullying or theft of private data creates stress and mental health challenges. Bullied school children miss classes and perform poorly in exams. Bullying mainly in schools is also associated with high teen suicides (Schneider, et al. 2012).

4. How they oppose Each Other

4.1. Cyberbullying occurs even when the user has strong privacy practices such as passwords and private social media accounts. Sometimes, the bullies have physical access to the victim and utilize online platforms to reach their target (Trolley, et al. 2010).

5. How they complement Each Other

5.1. The two complement each other in the exploitation of weak privacy and protective guidelines by the violators. When one has strong control measures, it opposes negative perpetration of the other. Cyber bullies mainly involve data such as pictures, messages or videos of the victims being used as a blackmail tool (Ramzan, 2013). Therefore, cyber bullies exploit weak privacy settings or poor understanding of online privacy by a computer user.